


Maybe a Dream

by kittyloaf



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Gender Confusion, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2019-06-24 07:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 91
Words: 120,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15625311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyloaf/pseuds/kittyloaf
Summary: Naruto Self-Insert. Just because you find yourself in Konoha doesn't mean you forget every other anime you've seen.





	1. Chapter 1

At first I felt like I was dreaming, falling in and out of hazy consciousness. I could barely move or keep my eyes open. I felt so very tired and sometimes hungry too. At some point I was being gently fed by a nurse when I wondered to myself,  _"Am I in a hospital?"_

I tried to think back, trying to recall something about yesterday or the day before, anything before this haze. I could remember flashes of things. My bedroom, a few manga and anime I was trying to catch up on, and images of the town I lived in.  _"Shouldn't I have a name?"_ I thought to myself, unable to remember anything. Not my name, not my age, not what I was doing with my life. Just a lot of facts and notions that seemed out of place without context.  _"Do I have amnesia? Does this have to do with why I can't move?"_

I gave up trying to plow through the mess of my memories and thought about what was occupying my mouth. It was sweet, reminiscent of milk.  _"Formula? Why is she bottle-feeding me? ... Why am I so small? Oh, my god."_

I was a baby. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be a baby. I was at least not a teenager before ... this ... I think. I could only assume so from a couple decades of television shows titles flickering through my mind.  _"What is this? Why is this happening?"_

Before I could get over the shock, a man's voice spoke from outside my vision.  _"Is that Japanese?"_  And then the female nurse stopped feeding me and put me down. The two spoke, the woman becoming more and more upset as they continued. I tried to turn my head. There were other shallow beds. A nursery? I could barely see the two grownups talking. The argument had turned into yelling by the time more men arrived, all dressed the same as the first man. One of them lifted me and another baby and carried us out of the room, bundled in blankets. After some kind of unintelligible murmuring to us, the next thing I knew was that we were traveling across rooftops, the wind biting my face.

Only when we reached the edge of town did the man carrying us turn back. I could see a cliff carved with giant faces and, far beyond that, a massive creature rampaging in the distance. Before I could even think  _"That mountain looks familiar,"_ the man carrying the two of us continued on, not stopping until we'd reached some kind of concentration camp. A throng of people waited around while more people in that green uniform stood guard.

I was taken to a makeshift nursery in the woods. It was little more than stumps with padding but it wasn't like I could complain. More people trickled into the area until probably the whole town was here. We were probably one of the last groups who made it here. The green army men seemed to be taking a headcount.  _"This is boring,"_ I thought to myself. Sure we were probably being evacuated because of a giant monster attacking the city but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I missed that bottle of formula.

I laid back and stared at the sky. It was so dark, like all the stars had been eaten and only blackness remained. I imagined I could feel the presence of the towering, burning monster. I imagined something poisonous and deadly and terrifying was just beyond the treeline of the clearing. It was like I could feel it in my bones and in my breathing and every cell in my body, sparking and flaring. My head hurt so badly, a migraine exploding in my brain. I instinctively cried, finally joining the other crying babies and screaming people.

The sky flashed as if glass suddenly came into existence above us and it didn't feel quite so scary anymore. And that was the last thing I remembered as I passed out, exhausted in a tiny, frail body.

* * *

Much later, I opened my eyes slowly. Barely able to tilt my head, I could see a few stragglers in the mostly deserted clearing.  _"I guess it's over. Man, I must be pretty young if I have this much trouble moving."_  Tables that once held other babes were being folded away. Idly wondering where the other children had gone without me, I then started to wonder why I was here in the first place. Had I died? Is this a dream? It couldn't be a dream. It was too real.

Soon, a woman came by and looked down at me. She spoke, sounding vaguely Japanese. If I had to guess, it probably meant something along the lines of 'What a poor thing, all alone. I wonder where its parents are.' The best I could do was gurgle to her. And then she picked me up.

The only thing I would ever remember about her was the metal headband she wore, emblazoned with the Konoha leaf. I couldn't look away from it, as if I could disintegrate it by staring hard enough with my baby eyes. I stayed silent for the rest of our short trip as the kunoichi took me to the orphanage.


	2. Chapter 2

Apparently my parents had been killed in the Nine-Tails' attack. A couple of mediocre, clanless ninja who just happened to be on duty at the wrong time. It didn't really bother me all that much, seeing as I couldn't remember my 'other' parents either.

The thing that really bothered me was trying to learn the language, gleaned from caretakers and fellow orphans over the next couple years. Sure, immersion is a great way to learn a language quickly but what I really needed was to be taught to read. Always eager to learn and always attentive to the adults, I quickly became seen as quiet, intelligent, and well-behaved from the moment I could walk. And you can bet I taught myself how to walk damn early. And soon after, I was bringing adults books from the small, ragged library of the orphanage so they could read to me.

The other thing that really bothered me was trying to summon chakra. Sure I had read a bit of the manga but I could probably write down everything I knew about Naruto in a few pages. Once I learned to write Japanese, that is. In the future, if anyone tries to read my thoughts, hopefully they get a load of unintelligible English. I sincerely hope that never happens.

You take your spiritual energies and your physical energies and swirl them together to make chakra, right? Well, a baby doesn't normally have much in the way of physical energies. Nor mental energies but I'm pretty sure I'm a special case. I spent most of my first days at the orphanage in meditation, when I wasn't being fed or sleeping.

I looked for my center. I tried to summon my ki. I tried to project psionic energy. I tried to feel the warp and weave of the universe. I even tried to go baby Super Sayian a couple times. I knew I had chakra coils in my body, producing energy to sustain my life force and circulate chakra through all my tissues and limbs. But every time I thought I might feel something, I would just become exhausted and it would slip away. It was like my body just didn't have any extra energy to give up. I would try every day for a year, pulling my yin and yang near my stomach and willing it to spin and combine. It was only by the time that I could walk on my own that I could feel something inside me. I tried to pull on it and draw it into my hands. It was another month before I could get a leaf to stick to my hand before the energy would dissipate.

However little success I had with my pitifully weak baby body, it was the complete opposite with my mental energy. I think that having a soul that's been around the bend at least once probably gave me an unfair advantage. Whereas trying to summon my 'ki' energy was like trying to wring a moist rag, I had no problem summoning my 'soul' energy. When all I had between bottle feedings and diaper changes was time to myself, I was desperate for anything to pass the time. Unable to really start working with chakra, I experimented with the spiritual energy to see if there was anything I could do with it.

* * *

I thought I had been left alone. I was not quite to the point of being able to walk. The few men and woman who staffed the orphanage typically left us alone unless there was a reason. Rarely was I ever the only child in a room. Being mature for my age, I was allowed to crawl and interact with other children, although you couldn't really say that we were playing together. The older children ignored us toddlers and the adults ignored everyone as their attention was spread thin enough already. I had crawled out of the playroom and across the hall into another room, an empty bedroom.

Seeing I was alone, I thought it would be a good time to try something I didn't want other people to see. Since I had so much spiritual energy, what would happen if I tried to push it out of my body? Could I make chakra threads with it? Maybe that is how you sense other people's chakra? I sat crosslegged on the floor, my palms on the floor to support my body, and I closed my eyes. And then I pulled on my soul and mind, collecting energy in my core, as much as I could. It wasn't really proper chakra with barely any physical energy, what I referred to internally as 'ki'. But once I gathered as much as I could, I let it expand, the whorling energy gently diffusing like a spiral galaxy, escaping my body and coming into contact with the room around me. And then I heard a scream.

I hadn't closed the door. I couldn't have closed the door. A lady, one of the nicest civilians, was looking at me and screaming. Having opened my eyes, I couldn't really see anything wrong. I was just sitting in the room, an innocent toddler who had wandered off. But she screamed and collapsed on the ground just beyond the door. I panicked and crawled under the nearest bed to hide.

It was deathly quiet for a moment as the entire orphanage, filled with dozens of children and several adults, all held their breath. After a few more agonizingly tense moments of hiding under the bed, a ninja appeared, wearing a vaguely cat-like painted mask.  _"ANBU? Why are ANBU here?"_  He checked the pulse of the woman and then turned his head toward me. I kept silent and just stared back from under the bed. In a sudden puff of smoke, he was gone.

The adults never brought it up with me the entire time I was there. Except for that one woman refusing to come anywhere near me, it was like nothing happened.


	3. Chapter 3

I was about two, judging by the passing of seasons. I still didn't have much in terms of physical energies. I could stand to be more active, honestly. I mostly spent my days practicing chakra control by myself. I had enough development to make a bit of chakra, playing with leaves and trying to get water to slosh in a cup by itself. But mostly I kept trying to do things with that weird spiritual chakra.

Chakra was like magic to me. It's a mystical extra-energy that can influence reality just by flicking some hand seals and yelling out the name of a technique. But you don't really need hand seals or to invoke anything for a jutsu to work. So what is it really? Even children can manage to create fireballs and clones. Hell, if chakra was so complicated then why can prepubescent kids activate dojutsu?

I knew that yin chakra is used for medical techniques and genjutsu. Even if I was probably still a year or two away from normal jutsu, I could probably pull off a basic genjutsu if I worked really hard at it. You just have to concentrate really hard, to visualize what you want your chakra to do and then pay the energy bill. After all, how do people create new techniques anyways? In a world where souls exist, where souls influence the corporeal, surely chakra is just the influence of a living soul upon the world.

People here take chakra for granted, that chakra can do anything. They don't know the implications of a world without chakra, what is and isn't possible without the supernatural. Someone invented those hand seals. Reality here doesn't kowtow to some secret password or formula but to the demands of our will. Chakra is just an extension of that will. Hasn't Naruto proven that the harder you want something, the more you can make it happen? Concentration, will, focus, resolve, that has to be the secret to make reality bend for you. At least that's the conclusion I came to in my head.

* * *

I was too young to leave the orphanage on my own, else I would go to the library pretty much every day to see if my theory bears out. So I had to be kind of inventive about trying to figure out genjutsu. Fortunately, I had an entire building of unwitting test subjects.

And I hated the orphanage. Sure they made sure we orphans wouldn't die but that was about it. I didn't play with the other children or even try to be included. I had bigger concerns. After all, this is Naruto. It would work out in the end if I never existed, right? But there was so much that could kill me. There was so much that could go wrong. I couldn't just be useless. I had to be able to defend myself, to be able to survive. And it wasn't like there was anything to do other than teaching myself to work with chakra.

I don't know how genjutsu is supposed to work but I assumed I'd have to reach my victims with my chakra. I had spent over a year trying to finagle some kind of control over my chakra. The first time I was allowed to play on my own, I found the most secluded part of the orphanage's property to practice sending out my chakra.

Even with my eyes closed, I could somehow tell that someone was walking up to me.  _"Is this how chakra sensing works?"_  It was like someone was tracking dirt onto my clean kitchen floor, how it felt to me through my chakra.  _"I know that my chakra is reaching this kid. Maybe I can try out a genjutsu."_

I envisioned myself transforming into a horrible alien-esque monstrosity with dripping incisors and 'moist' rubbery flesh comprised of twisted insect-like segments, complete with mouth-within-a-mouth. I pictured it in my mind like if it were a movie, with the sky darkening and a horrible breathing sound escaping my throat tubes. It was pretty easy since, after all, I'd seen it already in a past life. I took that scene and focused on pasting it onto the kid's mind. And then before he could say, "Do you want to play?" he was running away screaming.  _"Not bad for a first try."_  I opened my eyes and watched the blond-haired kid run into the safety of the building, falling down at least twice and crying the whole way.


	4. Chapter 4

I felt a little guilty for scaring a two year old boy who was just trying to make a friend. But I was also a little proud that I could actually scare a two-year-old, even if an adult could do the same thing with a scary mask and by saying 'ooga-booga'.  _"I still have no idea whether the genjutsu is any good."_  For all I knew, he could have seen a giant chicken instead of the Alien.  _"And just because it could fool a little kid doesn't mean it'd work on an adult, let alone a trained ninja."_

But I had found my calling. From then on, I terrorized that orphanage. I was a perfect angel in front of any adults but eventually I became associated with creeping shadows, demonic voices, and boogie-men on the edge of your vision. All the other children learned to leave me alone if they didn't want their rice bowls to turn into eye balls or find other nasty surprises.

I would wake up first, eat breakfast alone, then meditate outside. I would do push-ups and sit-ups and practice punching and kicking the air, not really knowing what I should be doing. Whatever martial arts I had done in my past life, it wouldn't be nearly enough here, but it was important to get used to taijutsu. I made up my own katas and made it look like I was just watching the clouds by myself. I never saw that blond kid again, and most everyone left me alone, content to see me as creepy. None of the kids could break out of my illusions. Admittedly, a kid wouldn't know what to do when the room turns blue and the furniture looks like it's rising off the ground.

Some days, I really did just stare at the clouds though. It felt like I had both a million years and no time at all. I thought about why I have all these memories. I remember technology and stories and my education and some of my life experiences but nothing about who I was or what I was doing with my life or even my name. Did something call me to this world? Did something from my past life send me here? Why can't I remember everything?

A group of older kids tried to confront me once. They told me that I was weird and that I should go away because no one wanted me there. I would oblige if there was anywhere I could go. But instead I just became angry. I was angry that I was stuck with these children and frustrated at being stuck in that orphanage and frustrated that I'd really only manage to do one thing right in the last two years.

Truthfully, those kids were right. I didn't belong here. And I took out my frustrations on them. I scrunched up a memory of Hell as it was described, complete with fire, pitchforks, sulfur, and demons. And I launched it at them, like a punch to the forehead. One kid, probably four, immediately vomited. Another, the oldest boy, just before academy age, fell backwards in shock. Which is an appropriate reaction for someone who just thought he was run through with spears and burned alive. The others simply got a head start as they ran away crying after regaining their senses.

Knowing I shouldn't have done that, I ran away too. I bolted before anyone could say anything or catch me. I found an alley a couple blocks away and just sat down and thought about my life. I would be three soon.

* * *

I deduced that there were two main ways to inflict genjutsu. I could let my unbalanced chakra spread like a cloud, carrying with it an illusion, to seep into anyone who was nearby. This tended to catch people even if I weren't aware they were there. I had to imagine a vision and kind of scrunch it down into a kind of shape, the shape of a memory even if that sounds like nonsense, and fill it with spirit energy. Then it would dissolve into the air, clinging to a spot like a cloud. It would last a while, depending on how many people walked into it.

That took a lot of chakra though. I could do it a couple times before I noticed myself getting tired. And since I couldn't direct it afterwards, it worked best for subtle things. I liked being followed by an entourage of creeping shadows, personally.

The other way I found was to simply tunnel my chakra into someone's brain at full bore. It was kind of like a one-way mind meld, implanting a suggestion that overrode what the person was actually seeing. It took a lot of concentration and I had to see or feel the target.

I figured there were probably other ways to do genjutsu. I knew it was possible to use a focus like feathers or nail polish to bounce the genjutsu, but I didn't know to make my chakra 'attack' an intelligence after being set onto an object. My weird, unbalanced chakra just wanted to stick to things, and to get absorbed. Without really knowing anything, it just seemed like yin chakra liked to sink into people.

In any case, I tried to keep a genjutsu up at all times. Usually just a subtle suggestion around myself like making myself seem taller or making my shadow a little more menacing. And anyone who had the misfortune of crossing my path and meeting my eyes got to see something disturbing lurking just outside the edge of their vision. I figured, if nothing else, it would help my chakra reserves.

Everyone soon learned to leave me alone. Even the adult caretakers interacted with me as little as possible, most of them having been caught in a stray genjutsu or heard stories by now. I didn't mind being ostracized. It's not like I could really talk to anyone.  _"I'm training to save the world from Madara Uchiha!"_  That was ludicrous and only half-true but my point stands.

It was my third summer in this world. I had exhausted the orphanage of its tiny library. Not much on how to be a ninja, but enough to become functionally literate. It was time to escape and see the rest of Konoha. Not that anyone would miss me if I were gone.


	5. Chapter 5

I looked into the mirror. Never mind how long it took to drag a chair into the communal bathroom. Long, unruly red hair flowed down to my shoulders, never having been cut. The adults would rather leave me alone and no one was going to leave me alone with anything as sharp as scissors. Large, dark eyes stared back at me, accompanied by a blank scowl. God, I was so pretty. My eye twitched as I realized I would give Sasuke a run for his money when I was older, but that only scrunched up my face in what would be an adorable expression on anyone else. With pale skin and soft lines, it was as if Gaara and Haku had a kid. I was slightly annoyed. I would rather just be inconspicuous.

" _Alright, I can work with this."_  First, I would have to be taller. That was obvious. I had to make my eyes seem smaller in relation to my face. My hands were also too small. And then take away a little from the cheeks. I just needed to seem a bit older than a three year old. Maybe five or six. And the less I needed to change, the better. It took less chakra to 'fill' smaller suggestions. I would be spreading my chakra pretty thin today so every bit would help.

After getting a good idea of what I wanted to look like, I climbed down the chair and sat down, wondering,  _"What if I tried to use genjutsu on myself?"_

Five minutes later, I was still sitting in that chair in the restroom, completely stumped. I was lucky no one needed to go. I decided to bite the bullet and see if it'd work.  _"I'm just going to make myself think I'm taller than I actually am. What could go wrong?"_  With my butt firmly planted on the chair, I imagined myself being a couple feet taller. It wasn't quite adult height but close enough. I closed my eyes and took great pains to make sure the image scrunched down carefully, not letting any errant thoughts break my concentration. At this point I could fire off genjutsu in my sleep but there was no assurance it would hold. The harder I 'compressed' the illusion I wanted to convey, the longer it tended to stick.

I wrapped my chakra around myself, seated in the quiet bathroom, sending the image radiating out and then tried pulling it back into my own mind, digging it into that sweet spot where our perception exists within our brains. Suddenly, everything felt wrong. It was like I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It felt wrong and true at the same time, like I couldn't be sure whether I was dreaming. I could feel my limbs and my body like they were too short to fill some kind of shell of what 'should be.' I felt so vastly disoriented that I was quickly becoming nauseous. I was on the floor before I realized that I had fallen out of the chair, clutching my head as I tried to force out the implanted thought and to stop the room from spinning.

Half cognizant of the world, I heard the door open and I filled with dread. I don't even know who it was. I could only see a pair of shoes before I blacked out.

* * *

I could feel the cold floor of one of the bedrooms. I cracked open an eye. It wasn't my bedroom. I instantly sat up, alert and tense. There was a blonde kid sitting on the bed across the room and looking at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I looked closer at the kid's face. There was a genuinely worried look on his face. Along with whiskers on his cheeks. And big, blue, curious eyes.  _"Naruto?"_

"This is your room, Naruto?"

"Woah, how do you know my name?" he asked, surprised. I actually knew the names of most everyone at the orphanage. After all, you can make way your genjutsu more effective by tailoring it to your target.

"I was asleep how long?"

"I dunno. 'Bout a few minutes? Why were ya on the floor? What were you doing in there?"

I was torn between  _"Something extremely dumb,"_  and  _"Just trying to reverse-engineer advanced ninja techniques to disguise my true form and get a job."_  I deliberated for as long as I could stretch the pause before answering, "Secret ninja techniques."

"Woah, really? What kind of techniques? Are they cool? Can I do them too?" His eyes lit up at the mention of being a ninja.

I was already exhausted trying to talk to child Naruto. I had no idea how to answer any of his questions. I stalled for time by climbing into a bed, across the room from Naruto, to lay down before changing the subject.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.

"Cause one day I'm gonna be the Hokage and the Hokage ain't gonna leave a pretty girl who's hurt," he said as if it was the most natural logic in the world.

" _What? What did he just say? Did he just say what I think he said?"_  I think my mind was still trying to process what he just said so I just said quietly, "Thank you."

Naruto beamed with pride. I swear his face was literally glowing.

"No problem! Last time I couldn't save you from that scary monster but I'm glad I could save you this time...er...what was your name again?"

Scary monster. That sounded familiar. Don't tell me it was the same blond-haired boy. That was too much of a coincidence.

"My name is Haru."

"You can count on me, Haru! By the way, do you want to be friends?"

"Yes," I said, still a little shell-shocked from the entire ordeal. My head felt like if Naruto ever got his hands on a snowglobe.

"Awesome! I guess now we're friends. And as friends, I just got one more question." He paused briefly, hesitating.

"Question?"

"Yeah! Um, I just gotta know. How come you were in the guys' bathroom?"


	6. Chapter 6

"No, Naruto. You may not see," I said as I escaped his bedroom. But he was right on my tail.

"But how else can I know for sure? You can't be a guy, Haru! You're too pretty to be a guy," Naruto whined in disbelief.

I did not want to have this conversation. I didn't want to have any sort of conversation with Naruto. God only knows what could happen. I weighed my options. I couldn't just run away because he knew where I lived. Genjutsu? I didn't really want to do that to him after he had helped me. I could have just told him to leave me alone. But he had asked to be friends with me and I had blurted out yes. Maybe having an accomplice wouldn't be so bad.

"I am going on an adventure." The feeling of dread within me kept growing. I knew what he would say next.

Naruto stopped in his tracks to ask, "An adventure? Can I come?" before sprinting to catch up.

"Yes, but we must prepare." Shit. I don't think I could have stopped the over-energetic blond boy from following me even if I hadn't told Naruto. It was going to be a pain but it would be better to plan for Naruto's inclusion. I started to drag the chair I had used, not caring that I was scraping its legs on the floor, back into one of the few vacant bedrooms.

Then I looked closely at Naruto. He was as distinctive as they come, with short spiky blond hair, wide open blue eyes, and the tell-tale whisker marks on his cheeks. Even his goofy smile was distinctive. We were about the same age and height.

He wore a plain T-shirt and shorts, yet to receive his orange tracksuit. I had a ratty, over-sized black hooded coat that I had found in an orphanage storage room. I didn't really bother with the front zipper and underneath I was pretty much wearing the same clothes as Naruto. I had found it while exploring the building in a wardrobe full of dusty, donated clothes. No one said anything when I started wearing it. It wasn't quite as fancy as a  _Black Coat_  but that's what it reminded me of, just a little.

It would take a hell of a genjutsu to completely disguise Naruto. Maybe it would be better to stick to conventional disguises. After all, eventually the whole of Konoha would know his face. I was a nobody and was just concerned about drawing attention to myself and raising too many questions. Naruto was a major security risk. You'd think that they'd keep a better eye on him. And then I stopped, gripping the chair, finally out of the hallway.

" _The ANBU. They are watching him. They are watching this orphanage. Are they watching me?"_  I thought I knew most everyone who lived here. I turned my head to look at the boy. Naruto stared back at me with puzzlement.

"Naruto, why do I not know you? Why have I never seen you here?" I asked slowly, intently.

"Um, well, ya tend to spend every day outside by yourself. And, um, you don't show up at chow with everyone else. And, uh, most of the other kids don't really like me hanging around," Naruto answered, petering out by the end. And in a quiet voice he added, "And you're really scary."

I couldn't really argue with that. My pranks were a bit more insidious than Naruto's ever would be. Stink bombs and vandalism were not nearly on the same level as psychological warfare. Then again, our goals were different.

I didn't reply. I looked out the window instead. This was the highest floor and I could almost see my training spot. I scanned the bushes and the trees and the nearby buildings before closing the blinds.

"Hey, I always wanted to ask ya. What's up with that scary monster? Was it protecting you or somethin'?"

"What scary monster?" I turned around to ask.

"It was a long time ago," he started. "I, uh, um, I tried talking to you but a scary monster attacked. Was it protecting you?"

And then it clicked. "One year ago? It was nothing," I instinctively denied.

"Oh, okay." Naruto said dejectedly. He made a face that made me feel like I just kicked a puppy.

I sighed. "Naruto, sit here." I closed the door while he plopped down in the chair. And then I sat in the bed across from him. I held out my hand to him, palm up. "Naruto, can you see this?"

"Yeah, what is it? Did you make that?" He leaned forward, and almost made to touch it.

"Describe what it looks like?"

"It's a glass ball. How are you making it float like that?"

"It is called genjutsu. It is an illusion."

"But it feels real," he said as his fingers pressed against the orb. I knew it would give against his fingers in his mind. It would be cold and heavy and want to pull back to its original position above my hand until he stopped pushing.

"Yes. It should seem real. Tell me the problem with it."

Naruto took a moment, leaning forward in his chair trying to figure out the answer to the puzzle. I waited patiently with the same stoic look on my face that I nearly always had. He grabbed the illusion on his hand. I could see him try to squeeze it but his fingers never collapsed no matter how hard he tried. He held it up to his ear and tried shaking it. And then finally tried to toss it in the air which only let it float back to my hand.

"It seems real," Naruto pondered until he tried tapping his finger against it. And I could see he figured it out when he grabbed it and tried to hit it against the chair he was sitting on. "It doesn't make any sound!"

"Yes. It looks real. It feels real. But no sound. And I am not in the ball." I let go of the illusion and Naruto looked at his hand and then looked at me with his mouth agape.

"Woah! How did you do that?" He was almost yelling at this point.

"Ninjas can do genjutsu. I practiced for a long time. I practice every day."

"You gotta teach me how! I'll do anything! Is that why you're so pretty? How did you learn how to do genjutsu?"

Honestly, I didn't know if Naruto could even do a genjutsu. Depending on how much chakra he had access to, he could probably sink the whole village into a miniature Infinite Tsukuyomi.

I grinned madly, a crazed look in my eyes. Leaving the orphanage could wait. This would be much more interesting. Naruto looked fearful for a moment. I pulled my hood over my head, down so far that it covered most of my face. All he could see was my insane smile. And I said, "I will teach you, Naruto. I will teach you what I know."


	7. Chapter 7

"Tell me a story, Haru."

I looked up from the book I was rereading. It was a weird request but I guess a few days of meditation and chakra theory would make most people want for mental stimulation.  _"It wouldn't hurt to indulge Naruto a bit, I guess."_

"Long ago, before ninja existed, there was a beautiful princess. She lived in a world torn apart by fighting and endless war. Desperate for peace, she stole the demon fruit of the World Tree and became the first person ever able to use chakra. With its great power, she quelled the fighting of the world, and created peace through fear.

"She gave birth to two sons who were also able to use chakra and they were even more powerful than their mother. However, the world tree was furious that the princess had stolen and passed down its power and he became a rampaging monster. Together, the brothers managed to stop the monster and seal it within one of their bodies.

"That brother then traveled around the world. He used the massive chakra of the World Tree within himself to help people. Unlike his mother, he tried to spread peace by helping others and trying to get them to understand each other. To that end, he gave people the ability to use chakra, hoping they would use it to better understand themselves and each other. He called this way of life 'ninshu.'

"The brother himself had two sons. The elder son was extremely talented, good at using chakra and anything else he did. The elder son was also very prideful, not wanting to rely on anyone else and to become strong on his own merits.

"The younger brother did not have any talent to speak of, unlike his brother. That meant he had to work extra hard to improve himself. Along the way, he made friends and allies and learned from them, growing as a person and eventually became strong like his brother.

"The founder of ninshu eventually chose the younger brother as the next leader of the ninshu way because he wanted people to work together to make a better world. This made the older brother angry. After all, hadn't he spent his whole life trying to make his father proud?

"The older brother then fought with the younger brother, unable to accept his father's decision. And to this day, their descendants still fight, using ninshu to do battle, and that is where ninjutsu comes from."

At this point, I ended my impromptu genjutsu puppet show. Naruto was actually clapping. I neglected to mention the tailed beasts or any of the three great dojutsu. That would raise questions later on that I wouldn't be able to answer.

"That was great! Do another one!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Maybe later, after you manage to get a leaf to stick." Only three days in, I could already notice improvement in my conversational skills. I had pretty much accepted my stilted way of speaking as unavoidable, but Naruto was helping me catch up.

"Okay, but if ya want me to stick a leaf to my hand, why am I using rocks? Ain't a rock way heavier than a leaf?" Naruto asked, bringing up a valid point.

"You weren't able to do it with a leaf. I want to see if this will work instead."

I lazed on the ground outside as if I were about to fall asleep while cloud gazing. In reality, I was trying to spread out my chakra as far as possible, seeing what I could sense. ANBU were probably trained to hide their chakra but I might get lucky. I could get maybe a couple blocks if I had time to concentrate. And I couldn't sense behind walls either. I still had a lot to figure out.

Naruto grumbled but kept trying, alternating between holding a leaf to his forehead like I showed him and trying to get a round stone to stick to his hand like a yoyo.

" _The three great dojutsu. How do you fight against something like that?"_  It wasn't like I had a kekkei genkai of my own, nor could I imagine a kekkai genkai that could counter the Sharingan, much less the Rinnegan.  _"Time travel? Bloodline theft? Nukes? Nah, the Rinnegan could counter a nuclear explosion pretty easily."_  I did have one idea percolating in my head that I wanted to try. But it'd have to wait until I was sure it wouldn't kill me. I opened my eyes and stared up at the clouds, just like my genjutsu illusion was doing in the eyes of anyone looking from the orphanage. Late summer afternoons were really pleasant in Konoha.


	8. Chapter 8

Summer was ending. By now, Naruto was doing pretty well with his chakra control. Couldn't float a leaf to save his life but he could palm a rock like nobody's business. For him, I'd say that's pretty good. I was working on floating two leaves at once, myself, but a rock was beyond me.

As much of a pain Naruto could be, I appreciated having him around. I tested my genjutsu on him and taught him to break out of them. The boy was great at dispatching genjutsu when he realized he was caught in one. He still couldn't really manage one on his own yet, whether it was from short attention span or because he had a demon's worth of yang chakra inside him.

I also tried teaching him the rudimentary taijutsu I had developed from my memories. It was just a few punches and kicks and blocks but hopefully I'd have a decent sparring partner soon.  _"If anyone asks, I'll tell them it's called Anything Goes."_ I wished I had a real taijutsu teacher.

" _Anyways, it's about time. Naruto can manage on his own. I'd bring him with me if I could but I can't wait any longer."_

* * *

The next morning, I took a bath and cleaned up as well as I could. My favorite coat hung on the wall. I could only stare at it while toweling myself dry and sigh, shaking my head.

I found the nicest clothes I could in the old storage wardrobe, a plain, maroon kimono that fell down to my ankles over my normal clothes. I tied it tightly around my waist.  _"It'll have to do."_  I made my way to the door and slipped on my sandals, a half-eaten riceball in my mouth.

Hoping to sneak out unnoticed, I left out the back before anyone was supposed to be awake. Unfortunately, I heard a window slide open in the dim dawn light.

"Haru! Is that you? Are you running away?! I thought we were supposed to go on an adventure together! Come back!" screamed Naruto from his room on the top floor.

I pressed my fingers into my forehead to stay the feelings of a headache. I also sighed really, really hard. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I yelled back, "Naruto! I'll be back tonight! Watch my coat for me!" God, that probably woke the whole building.

I waved goodbye. And with that, I was off to see Konoha.


	9. Chapter 9

The orphanage was as far from the Hokage Monument as you could get without actually living next to the village walls. That meant I had a lot of walking in store for me. The kind of walking that would be a bit too much for a three year old kid. Even one that did line sprints every morning in the shadow of the orphanage. I adopted the first appropriately sized walking stick I saw on the ground.

All morning I wandered through the streets of Konoha, taking note of what kind of buildings I passed.  _"So the residential area ends about here."_ The most of the market shops seemed to have finished setting up for the day as I headed ever closer toward those giant faces in the sky.

" _Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained,"_  I thought to myself as I stared at the outside a random shop. I didn't really know what all the words and symbols on the walls and signs meant so I picked one of the cleanest looking businesses. Leaning my new walking stick just outside the door frame, I walked in under the curtain hanging across the open doorway.

"Excuse me," I spoke politely to the man who seemed in charge. "I was wondering if I could find any opportunities for work here." I bowed deeply, my hair falling dramatically around my face. Hopefully I wasn't facing a ninja and just a civilian who would overlook a minor genjutsu in a dimly lit room.

"Eh?" The crinkled old man behind the counter blinked and leaned forward to look at me. "What's? You lookin' for work? Ain't no work for a kiddo like you here. Why'd you wanna work here anyways? You know anything about sake?" He looked around his shop and at his shelves of alcohol as if making sure he wasn't accidentally running a candy shop.

"No," I lied. I knew some basic things about sake for some reason, but why would a 'five year old' know anything about sake? "I am just looking for paying work."

"No work for kids here. Even pretty young girls like you." My eye twitched slightly at that. "Don't you got parents ta give ya an allowance or nothin'?"

I simply bowed again. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time." With that, I left the sake stand and retrieved my walking stick before heading to the next store.

* * *

In the next couple hours, I had been rejected from a fruit stand, a vegetable stand, a book store, several tea shops and restaurants, a weapons store, and a pet shop. Most of the time it had been a variation on "Ain't no job for a kid," which was understandable. It would have taxed my body to the limits to do most of them, being younger than my genjutsu made me seem.

The other times I had gotten questioning stares and a lot of "Where are your parents?" Along with being called a 'little girl,' I had ducked out of those places as fast as I politely could.

I sat in a café whose manager had taken pity on me and offered me a cup of tea. I sipped on it and started to peel an orange that the fruit stand owner had given me after she had wished me luck finding a job. If not for their kindnesses, I would be both hungry and thirsty.

I stared into the steaming tea as its porcelain cup warmed my hands.  _"Do I really look that much like a girl?"_  I tried to see my reflection in the tea but my head would block the light whenever I leaned forward and all I could see were tendrils of red hair falling around me and the dark outline of a person.

* * *

After I had rested a bit, I thanked the café manager for his hospitality with as kindly a smile as I could muster. "Come back any time," I heard as I left, grabbing my walking stick again.

" _Well, that's all the stores on this street."_  Maybe somewhere off the main road would be willing to hire 'a poor orphan girl.' I had let it go the first couple times and it was quickly becoming clear that it would be easier just to let people think what they want, as embarrassing as it was.

I sighed, turning left off the main road and looking for another place to apply. I figured I had a little more time before I should start looking for the library. There were fewer stores on the cross streets between the main arterials but I stopped in front of a clean looking store that caught my eye.  _"This place smells nice."_

Stepping inside, I leaned my walking stick against the wall.  _"Woah, this place is way bigger on the inside than you'd think."_  Long aisles of vases and tables of pots filled with flowers extended away from a counter that was just to the right of the entrance. There were packets of seeds and sacks of topsoil and a large refrigerated display of flowers in arrangements behind glass, all among the many rows of healthy looking plants.

I stopped gawking long enough to turn around and meet the gaze of a mature looking woman with long brown hair. "Excuse me," I started my much practiced introduction, "I would like to know if I might find work here," I said, bowing deeply as I had done many times that day.

"Oh, my. How old are you child?" she asked, surprised at the request. She walked out from behind the counter to get a look at me. Presumably my homebrew genjutsu disguise would suggest to anyone looking at me that I was older than I was, and suggest that I was taller than I was, but I was still wary about being touched, as it might create cognitive dissonance. I backed up slightly, and then tried to give her the most determined glare I could.

"I'm old enough to work. Please, if there's anything I could do for money, I would do anything," I said. The woman paused a moment. Maybe I had managed to convey how serious I was?

"Well, do you know anything about taking care of flowers?"

"No," I replied truthfully, "but I'm willing to learn."

"Inoichi, would you come out here please," she gently called into a doorway behind her, "Someone is here looking for a job."

I could feel all the color drain out of my face the second she said that name.  _"Oh, god, please don't tell me I'm in Yamanaka Flowers."_  Surely an experienced jounin would be able to tell something wasn't right about me.

"Yes, dear?" The voice of my ruination called back, accompanied by approaching footsteps. "Oh, who is this?" Inoichi was a tall, blond man with a chisled chin and strong facial features. I could see his forehead protector and flak jacket. They made him seem even more imposing. It probably helped that he was a good meter taller than me.

"My name is Haru. I wish to be employed here." I could tell I was stiffening up.

The ninja looked at me for a while. I had no idea what he was thinking.  _"This has to be the most stressful job interview I've ever had."_

"What kind of job are you looking for, Haru?" he asked, his gaze unwavering.

"I could water the plants. I can take orders. I'm smart. I can do whatever you want me to do. I just need a job." Internally, I had to repeat to myself,  _"Don't waver, don't fidget, don't shift your eyes too much. Just tell as much of the truth as possible."_

"And why do you want to work here, Haru?"

"Because it smells nice." I tried to smile at this point.

I could see the creases crinkle on the edge of his eyes as he smiled back. He seemed pleased with my answer. He stepped forward and reached out his hand, as if to give my hair a reassuring tousle. But rather than let him pat me on the head, I intentionally fell backward onto the floor.  _"Ouch, gotta practice my falls later."_

Startled, Inoichi's wife hurried to my side and helped me up. "Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you?" Inoichi simply let the woman take control of the conversation. "Oh, my. You're so light. Have you been eating? What have your parents been feeding you?"

Aye, there's the rub.

"I'm sorry. I just lost my balance. And they feed us enough at the orphanage." I didn't look her in the eye but I could still see the moment of mortified shame flash on her face as she realized her mistake.

"Inoichi. There must be something we can do for her." She looked at her husband sternly. I could only stand there, looking down at the ground, hoping Inoichi Yamanaka couldn't read my mind.

"I suppose 'she' can work here until Ino is old enough," Inoichi said coldly.

Rattled out of my wits, I could only let out a quiet "Thank you," and try not to meet his I looked behind him into the doorway he had come from. There was a single blue eye peeking out, staring at me.

* * *

"Where did you go today, Haru? How come you left me behind?" Naruto whined harshly, demanding to know what he had been left out of.

"I got a job." I had taken the time to change out of the massive kimono and exchange it for my customary black coat. It was heavy and cold to the touch, but it comforted me.

"But I thought you were going to be a ninja with me."

"That's the plan, Naruto. It's all part of the plan."

" _But things don't always go according to plan."_


	10. Chapter 10

Momoka Yamanaka reminded me of young Minerva McGonagall. It was probably because she put her hair in a bun. If she wore glasses, she'd be a dead ringer in about thirty years. Mrs. Yamanaka had a formal air to everything she said, hovering between strict and sweet.

As soon as I had been 'hired' by the Yamanaka clan, she immediately started me on cleaning all the floors and surfaces of the entire greenery. Then I was set to watering all the plants. And then I had to restock all the shelves of gardening supplies, carrying clay pots and bags of topsoil out from a storage room at the farthest corner of the store. I worked silently, merely nodding my head whenever she asked a new task of me.

I think she was testing me to see how willing to work I actually was. But the menial labor wasn't particularly displeasing. It was a good opportunity to get myself acquainted with the layout of the store. The only difficult task was hauling huge bags of fertilizer. I walked them one at a time on the top of my feet. Although I had thought to start exercising at the orphanage, I still had the body of a small child.  _"Everything can be training. Maybe I should get myself some weights?"_  She seemed satisfied with my work ethic by the end of the afternoon though.

* * *

When I arrived the next morning, Inoichi Yamanaka was behind the counter instead of his wife. Despite the bright dawn, my day was just getting worse by the second, considering it started with Naruto throwing a fit as I told him that I'd be gone every day from now on.

"Good morning, Yamanaka-san." I bowed courteously.

"Oh, hello, Haru-chan." Inoichi put down a clipboard he had been looking at. "It's kind of early, isn't it?" he asked, again studying me again as he did the day before.

"Should I come back later?" I still wanted to see if I could find a library in this village. Academy students had to study somewhere.

"No, no, this is perfect actually. There are a lot of things to do in the morning so it's actually good that you're here. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether you would be coming back." He smiled welcomingly at me. "Taking care of flowers can be a lot of work."

" _He's still trying to figure me out. This is going to get tiresome real fast,"_  I thought to myself, my face yet blank of any response.  _"I might as well give him something."_

"Yamanaka-san. When I was a baby, the Kyubi attacked Konoha. A lot of people died in that attack. I became an orphan that day. I intend to become a ninja. And one day I will find the person who unleashed the Kyubi and get revenge for my parents.

"But I can't even afford to feed myself. I can't afford my own clothes. And I can't learn how to be a ninja if I'm stuck in an orphanage all day. This is all I can do to try to stand on my own two feet."

Sometime during my diatribe, a scowl had appeared on my face along with a steeled glint in my eyes. By the end of that, I wasn't trying to explain anything but more just prove myself to Inoichi, letting out some of my pent up emotion, as if he was the reason I had been languishing in the orphanage.

He continued to evaluate me, staring down from twice my height, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

"And the genjutsu?"

"I've been doing it ever since I was born." There was no point in trying to hide it. I just smiled sadly, completely at the mercy of the adult.

"Impressive," he concluded cryptically. "I just have one more question for you, Haru." He paused for me to acknowledge him but I just said nothing as I looked him in the eye. "How old are you really?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. I don't even know how old I was in my past life. I didn't even know my own birthday, neither now nor back then. I tried to remember but, as always, it was like looking into a void.

Inoichi's features softened slightly. "Well, first things first. We need to water the plants. I'll show you how to prepare the water and which plants to water in the morning. Then I'll show you how to take orders from customers," he said in a cheery tone, no longer questioning why I was here.

He turned away to get a couple watering cans as I spoke up, "Yamanaka-san, I have something to ask you." He paused and I continued. "Your wife thinks I'm a girl. You know I'm a guy, right?"

"What?! But you're so cute, Haru-chan!" He exclaimed with faux surprise on his face. I was not amused.


	11. Chapter 11

I quickly took to the routine of my duties at the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop. There was a kind of serene peace inherent in working there, like a zen calm that comes from preforming a ritual you've done for years and know by heart. Hell if I knew what that was supposed to imply about my past life.

As it turned out, I actually knew a lot about flowers. Occasionally Inoichi would introduce me to some new task and I would already know why it had to be done. Hunting slugs, pruning branches, testing soil and adding fertilizer, and dozens of other small jobs all fit into the context of my memory. But for all I knew about the transpiration of water through the xylem of a plant stem, I knew next to nothing about what the names of the plants actually were. And I knew that I was remembering all these facts and not just intuiting them on the spot. There were lots of things that I knew but couldn't remember learning and the partial amnesia frustrated me to no end.

Among the aisles of flora, I worked as silently as possible as the Yamanakas would handle customers. I tried to mute my footsteps as much as possible and stay out of sight unless necessary. A few times I startled Momoka who had called for me while I was actually right next to her. Inoichi was impossible to sneak up on, however. And honestly it's probably not a good idea to sneak up on a trained ninja.

I enjoyed helping the Yamanakas. Momoka Yamanaka didn't coddle me but would always have something home-made for me to eat every lunchtime. Inoichi was genial and effused joy when he was working or taking care of his precious daughter. Often he would give me tips on my work and on my immature attempts at stealth, yelling out from behind the counter. I wouldn't say anything aloud but instead send the strongest genjutsu I could muster at him, a several layered image of me thanking him for his advice.

I liked working at Yamanaka Flowers.

* * *

"Haru-chan, come over here," Inoichi called to me from his seat behind the counter. I wordlessly set down my broom and walked up to the front of the store. "Haru-chan, it's been a week. I have something for you."

He handed me a white envelope. I tucked it into the pocket of my clothes under my gigantic kimono. "Thank you, Yamanaka-san."

"I told you that you can call me Inoichi. There's no need to be so formal. It makes me feel old," he said, chuckling at my overly respectful tone.

"I'm sorry, Inoichi-sama. I will do better in the future."

At that, Inoichi burst out laughing. "Alright, that's it. Get out of here, Haru. You can have the rest of the day off."

I said my farewells and grabbed my walking stick. I waved back to Inoichi, noting in the corner of my eye the unusually shy Ino hiding behind the doorframe as she watched me leave.

* * *

I did a lot of shopping that day. I got some weird looks when I tried to buy wearable training weights and dulled practice kunai but no one hassled me too much. I also bought myself a weapons pouch, a significant amount of empty water balloons, and some clothes that actually fit me.

I had found a child sized men's kimono. It was perfect. That soft red just called out to something within me. Upon making sure it fit, I immediately started looking through the rest of the children's section for a white hakama.  _"Too bad no one will get the reference."_  I also got some cheap tabi to complete the look. Before I left the store, I tied my hair back into a ponytail and checked myself out in the mirror.  _"Yes, cosplay complete."_  As I left, I attached another genjutsu on myself, creating the illusion of a cross-shaped scar on my cheek. Life was good.

* * *

I routinely had a lot of genjutsu attached to me at once. They tended to last longer when created on myself than if I set them on an object or location, I had discovered through some of my experiments. There was the one that suggested I was older, then the one where I was taller, and then the visual illusion that my shadow would sometimes shift or move on its own. Whenever I was inside the orphanage I had an auditory genjutsu that would make someone hear nonsensical whispers that grew louder when they got closer to me, just to reinforce my demon child persona. I paired that with a visual genjutsu that shifted the perception of color, making everything seem dull and unsaturated, which ensured that I was only approached when absolutely necessary.

But as I stood in front of Konoha Library, I dispelled all of them except for the tiny one that comprised my pretend scar.

Konoha was a fascinating place to me. The juxtaposition of modern buildings with unpaved roads, the anachronistic technology, the strange blend of urban and pastoral, it was like a fantasy come to life. Its library was no different. Just on the first floor I could see innumerable scrolls crammed into rows and rows of shelves. In another direction, walls full of books surrounded tables where academy students and shinobi sat.

"Hey, kid," called a shinobi seated behind the front desk of the library. "Are you just here to stare or what?" His grumpy demeanor and lack of a flak jacket suggested either he was a chunin with an unfortunately boring assignment or, more likely, someone in the genin corp. His forehead protector held up his dark brown hair.

"Shinobi-dono, this one was told to come to here to study the ninja arts, such is the case. This one would appreciate assistance finding study materials, that I would." I said in as formal Japanese as possible. After all, it wouldn't do to break character.

"A bit short to be a ninja, aren't you? Are you in the academy?" He looked at me quizzically.

"Unfortunately, no, that is not the case, shinobi-dono."

"Er...well let's start with your name."

"This one is called Haru, that I am."

"No clan?" He raised an eyebrow.

"This one lacks a clan, that I do."

"What about your parents?"

"This one lacks parents, that I do."

The man behind the counter sighed deeply. He took a second to appraise me again before asking, "Do you have a guardian or someone who can vouch for ya? Otherwise there's not much I can do. I'd have to get you cleared by village security before I can let you in."

"This one is known by Yamanaka Inoichi-dono, that I am."

"Yamanaka? Huh." He thought about it for a moment. "Well, come back tomorrow and I should have everything set up for you."

"This one is filled with gratitude, shinobi-dono, such it is."

I bowed and left, collecting my walking stick before leaving. I could hear the guy mutter in the quiet library just within the range of my hearing, "Weird kid. Polite but weird."

* * *

"Woah, Haru. Nice duds. Where did you get that scar from?"

"It's just a genjutsu, Naruto. You should be able to break it," I suggested.

Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fist. I could feel my chakra break apart within him, obliterated by a massive flood of chakra. He opened his eyes.

"Oh, hey, it's gone."

"Did you practice with the leaves like I told you?" I asked, changing into my normal clothes.

"Yeah, that's easy now. When are you going to teach me something cool?"

"Soon, Naruto. Did you get all the way up the tree yet?" Naruto immediately frowned and pouted.

"I'll get there eventually. It's really hard, Haru! The stupid trees keep exploding." Indeed, it was hard. I wasn't much farther along than Naruto. Just because I could get up to the branches doesn't mean I could do it in the heat of combat like I would need to. I had to concentrate on collecting the chakra under my feet and it was hard to focus on anything else at the same time. It also ate a lot of my chakra, and I didn't know if it was because I was inefficient or my reserves were just that small. I hadn't even tried water walking yet.

"Well, keep trying, my padawan. If you get really good, I'll show you how to do this." I conjured an image for Naruto of a leaf hovering above my palm. He would see it shred into tiny pieces as it floated in the air.

"Awesome! I can do that?"

" _I should buy some chakra paper,"_  I thought to myself as I wondered what my chakra nature would be. "When your chakra control gets good enough. You will have to practice really hard though."

"No problem, Haru! I'm going to be the best ninja ever. You'll see!"

"I'm sure you will, Naruto." I smiled at him. His enthusiasm could be infectious sometimes.

"Um, Haru? I wanted to ask you," Naruto paused. He looked up at me, sitting on the floor of my room and leaning back on his hands, "How do you know all this stuff?"

"I think I read it, a long time ago." I fell backward onto my bed. "I've read a lot of things. So many things, so many that I don't remember where I read all of it." I stared at the ceiling. "I don't really remember."

" _I can't remember."_

"Ew, reading. That's boring. Hey, I've got an idea. You can do all the reading and then just tell me all the important stuff! Eh?"

"Sure, Naruto. Just don't expect me to do your homework for you."

"Homework? What does that mean?"

Poor, sweet, innocent Naruto. If only he knew the horror that awaited him at the academy. I couldn't help but laugh maniacally. "It's a horrible curse that dwindles the life of its victims. The only way to free yourself is to read something really boring." I could just imagine the dread appear on Naruto's face.

"No! It can't be true. You gotta be kidding, Haru! That sounds terrible! I hope that never happens to me. Haru? Why are you laughing? Haru?"


	12. Chapter 12

The library was everything I had hoped for. Once I had been cleared for access, I went at it with the fervor of an Akamichi heir in a candy store.

There were two things I was hoping to find. The first was a lead on how to recreate the Shadow Clone Technique for Naruto. It was easy enough to find scrolls on the three main academy jutsu. The Body Replacement Technique, the ordinary Clone Technique, and the Transformation Technique were all easy enough to find, which made sense given that I had been allowed 'academy level access.' But those were the only jutsu to be found. Regardless, I read those scrolls until I had they theory behind each memorized.

The second thing I wanted to know was whether it was possible to neutralize chakra. I knew that there were chakra absorption techniques and that yin-yang techniques were supposed to negate ninjutsu, but I wasn't going to find anything like that here. I'd have been happy just to find anything that would fuck with the Sharingan, really. The closest I found to that end had been some fascinating introductory texts on fuinjutsu.

Reading about the sealing arts was like reading IKEA furniture instructions. Contradictory, vague, and probably useless. Comparing them, every scroll essentially said you should do seals as described in the text, and every text had its own methodology. An evening spent reading about fuinjutsu meant heading to bed with a headache.

Until now, I had been operating under the assumption that chakra could do anything and that it was just a matter of finding the proper means of imposition, the right handseals or fuinjutsu to make it do what you wanted. None of the fuinjutsu scrolls directly contradicted my assumption, but they sure had their own ideas about how it worked.

One night, as if to prove I was right, I inscribed my seal into the paper of the scroll I had just read. If I wasn't trying to actually seal anything and just make a 'seal' with chakra, I figured it would be pretty easy just to draw a circle with my chakra and see if it would stick to the paper. With my finger, I drew a rough circle on an empty section of scroll, etching my chakra into the paper and leaving a curved black line that almost seemed like it had been burnt in by a laser printer.

However cool it looked, it didn't actually do much. I couldn't sense anything coming from it. I tried placing the palm of my hand over the small black circle. It still didn't do anything. It was only when I pushed a bit of chakra into my 'seal' that I could feel it existing on the scroll. I had also expected it to last longer than it did, and not fade out after a few seconds. It didn't seem to want to hold a charge.  _"Maybe there's more to this than I thought. Perhaps it's less like a computer program and more like an electric circuit?"_

* * *

"Naruto, come with me. Dress warmly." I hadn't bothered knocking before entering Naruto's room. Ensconced in my favorite black hooded coat, I waited for him with my hands in my pocket and the hood pulled down over most of my face.

"Huh? What's up?" He seemed confused. It was rare for me to actually seek out Naruto. Rather than respond, I just started walking out of the room. I could hear, "Hey! Wait up!" along with a clatter as Naruto struggled to pull on a jacket. When he caught up to me, I was surprised to see a familiar orange tracksuit, although it was only the top half. He was still wearing shorts below the waist, missing the point of being told to dress warmly. Meh, Land of Fire never really got all that cold. He'd be fine.

Naruto dutifully followed me out the door of the orphanage. It was late evening and the sun had gone down, but I knew exactly where I was going. I plodded along with my walking stick, ignoring all of Naruto's "Where are we going? Are we there yet?" whining. We'd just gotten to the commercial district and I sorely wanted to clobber the blond boy to shut him up. Instead, I just gripped my walking stick tighter as I navigated the streets by the light streaming out of the windows of buildings and paper lanterns hanging over the streets.

Naruto had grown quiet as we wandered the streets. I glanced at him as he looked around, amazed at the sight of Konoha at night. Had he never been outside the orphanage? He was so distracted that he almost didn't notice me duck under a short curtain.

I sat down on a stool and pulled back my hood. Naruto followed my lead and sat next to me. I held up two fingers. "Two large chashu pork miso, please. Extra meat." I only had to glance at the menu before ordering. I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and placed them in front of me, waiting patiently.

Teuchi looked a bit surprised at how quickly I ordered. Or it might have been at how short his customers were. But he smiled and let out a cheerful "You got it!" as he started the order.

"What is this place, Haru? Why are we here?" Naruto finally spoke up.

I shushed him. "All will be revealed in time." I couldn't help but grin though. After all, I had been waiting for this moment for years. Naruto looked around the small ramen stand and eventually just watched Teuchi prepare our food. I habitually tied my long, red hair back in a ponytail, something I instinctively did before nearly every meal. I closed my eyes and waited patiently. So much planning, so much effort, all coming to fruition now.

"Here you go, kids. Dig in!"

He didn't need to tell me twice. "Itadakimasu!" I immediately started in on my bowl of ramen, stuffing noodles and meat into my face along with spoonfuls of hot, savory, salty broth. It was glorious. I didn't have time to turn my head to see how Naruto was doing but from the slurping sounds I could tell he was having the time of his life.

I definitely had to teach Naruto how to kick Nagato's ass so this place never gets destroyed. That tender, juicy pork, the perfect broth, hearty noodles that dissolved in your mouth, it was amazing. It was completely worth working myself to the bone at the Yamanaka's just to be able to afford Ichiraku's. This was some freaking quality ramen.

When we had finished and I had paid for our meal, I was leaning forward, resting my head in the crook of my arm on the table. Naruto was leaning back, his belly obviously distended.

"Haru, have I ever told you what a good friend you are?"

"Oh, Naruto, this is for you." I handed him his present. It was a triangular wallet, more a money pouch really, shaped like a fox's head. He unzipped it across the top and looked inside, finding the ryo I had stashed in there for him. "Happy birthday, Naruto," I said, happy and stuffed full of ramen.

"Haru...what?" He tried to hold back the tears. "I don't...Haru..." He was wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. Sobbing, he told me, "You're a good friend, dattebayo..."

I zipped up my coat and pulled my hood back on. "We should get back before it gets too late." I hopped down off the stool and grabbed my walking stick as I left through the curtains of Ramen Ichiraku.

I could hear Naruto sniff one last time before he chased after me, yelling, "Hey, wait up!"


	13. Chapter 13

The more time I spent with Naruto and the Yamanakas, the more I realized that I didn't give care about what was 'supposed' to happen in Naruto. I had originally thought that I could just sit on the sidelines, gathering enough skill and strength to simply weather the storm. But discovering almost a year ago that Naruto lived in the same building where I lived had changed things. It was personal now.

Naruto never mentioned it, but I knew in my head that if it weren't for me, he would be all alone. And imagining Naruto growing up alone, without parents or friends, that thought infuriated me in a way that I really didn't understand. I only knew that I would never allow it if I had the choice. I was pretty sure that I had grown up once before, but Naruto had nothing and I did not find the situation equitable at all.

Besides, I would never be able to just stand by and do nothing. That was just too boring. I think I would have probably have decided on my own to start changing things, even if Naruto hadn't tried so hard to befriend me. And I knew he had tried. My genjutsu didn't discriminate back then. I knew he had heard the voices and seen the shifting, surging shadows just like everyone else.

That reminded me.  _"Maybe I could try teaching Naruto a genjutsu again?"_  He was doing pretty well trying to learn the academy jutsu. Naruto was having a hell of a time trying to do the Clone Technique. All of his attempts reminded me of failed human alchemy experiments. It was slightly traumatic. His kawarimi and henge were pretty good though, as expected of someone who would master the Shadow Clone Technique.

On the other hand, I couldn't do any of them. It sounded simple enough. Channel your chakra through the proper hand seals and if the amount of chakra and its composition were right then the desired effect would be produced. But it made no sense to me. Why does it work better when channeled through the hands? It galled me to think that magical ninja techniques relied on making shadow puppets out of the equivalent of the Chinese zodiac.

I knew that there were tenketsu in the hands. And I knew it was supposed to help modulate your chakra usage. Even though Naruto was living proof that hand seals worked, whenever I practiced using handseals, I couldn't bring myself to believe it would work. And invariably, my techniques always failed.

Hand seals were just a code. They were just a language, an interface with which to effect elaborate chakra spectacles. But if that were entirely true, you would be able to systematically run through every combination of handseals and derive techniques that way, and that wasn't how it worked.

I was convinced that hand seals and fuinjutsu were just containers for our wills and imaginations. They were the punctuation and our intentions were the words. At least, that was what I wanted to believe. It was what made sense to me.  _"Maybe Hagoromo was onto something with his Ninshu. Speaking with our chakra?"_

After all, why should my genjutsu work at all? Naruto said my genjutsu were really convincing and seemed very real. There was a methodology to it, yes, but in the last step it was just intuition that was doing most of the heavy lifting there. I spent a lot of my nights with Naruto experimenting with genjutsu, seeing what was possible and trying to find the limits of my abilities.

In any case, I spent more of my time refining my chakra control and trying to find the best way to punch trees than trying to figure out ninjutsu techniques. It was late November now. I could walk on trees and water pretty easily now. I would play catch with Naruto at the Konoha hot springs on my days off, tossing heavy stones back and forth to make sure we could adjust for sudden changes in weight. We tried sparring on top of the water but it always ended with trying to drag the other person into the water.  _"That's what I get for trying to recreate Jujutsu. Maybe I should throw some more Karate and Muai Thai into the mix. Maybe Chinese Kenpo?"_  At least we didn't have to go far to relax afterward.

* * *

It was a slow day at the flower shop. Inoichi had excused himself, called away on ninja business. I was supposed to clean the store and keep an eye on Ino, as if I weren't her age. I moved the broom in my hands automatically as I became lost in my thoughts.

I was wondering whether it was possible to make a reverse genjutsu, one that would reinforce reality or ward off illusions if you cast it ahead of time. Maybe a negative chakra? Anti-chakra? Are there chakra wavelengths? Most people don't even realize that natural energy exists. The only time I ever had a clue that natural energy existed was when I tried to stick a genjutsu on something other than myself. But I knew better than to mess with senjutsu.

How did the Tsukuyomi work anyways? Why didn't Madara just Infinite Tsukuyomi himself? It would have been easier just to delude himself instead of involving the entire planet. Could he even Tsukuyomi himself? He would have to know if he were in his own genjutsu. And I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of world he wanted to create. There was no such thing as a perfect utopia. Even Crystal Tokyo was doomed from its very conception.

Madara Uchiha just did not make sense. Thinking about it just made me frustrated. Thinking about stupid hand seals made me frustrated. I took it out on the young girl leering at me from behind the counter as I swept. "What do you want?" I asked rudely, without turning to look at her.

"I don't like you," Ino informed me, giving me the evilest eye she could muster. It would probably be more intimidating if her feet could reach the floor as she sat on a stool behind the counter, leaning forward on the counter and glaring at me.

" _Okay,"_  I thought to myself, still sweeping without responding.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm just sweeping, Yamanaka-san," I said with a wide smile.

"Just go home. No one wants you here." This was the most Ino had ever spoken to me.

"Oh, I suppose I shall then after I finish sweeping and watering the plants. If I don't do that much, your father will be disappointed with me."

"He doesn't like you. No one likes you. You're creepy." Ino tilted her head, propping it up off the table with her hand around her cheek. Seeing that intimidation didn't work, apparently she was hoping a different tactic would work. Ino pulled back her short blond hair, emphasizing how little I meant to her.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized." This was already starting to bore me. I started to collect the swept dust into a pan.

"And you have no fashion sense. That kimono does not suit you at all."

That was a really weird insult. I admit that my clothes weren't very stylish, but at least they were comfortable and practical. I dressed the way I did because it amused me more than anything though.

"And I'm way prettier than you will ever be."

" _What?"_  My eye started to twitch in a familiar way.

The young Ino slammed her hands down on the counter. "That's why Daddy is always going to like me more!" she yelled at me, her bright blue eyes gleaming with moisture.

It took me a moment to process what she had said. And suddenly I felt annoyed at Inoichi.

"That is very true, Ino-san. Your father is a great man who loves his daughter very much and who was willing to let me work here when everyone else turned me away." I did not think of myself as a very sentimental person but Ino's father had done a lot for me. I gripped the broom in my hand tightly as I turned to her and said, "I will always be grateful to the Yamanaka Clan. And I would be honored if Inoichi-san ever considered me like a son."

Ino's eye twitched. "What did you say?"

"I respect your father very much and if he thought of me as a son, I would be glad."

Little Ino suddenly turned extremely red in the face before slipping off her chair and disappearing somewhere below the counter.

" _Man, girls are strange,"_  I thought as I started to water the plants.

* * *

"Hey, Haru. What are all those water balloons for?"

I could only laugh hysterically. "Let me show you something cool, Naruto."


	14. Chapter 14

"Hello, child. I hear you have some talent for genjutsu. How would you like to become a ninja?"

" _Eh, I can't even do the Kage Bunshin. Gotta figure that one out first."_

"Very interesting. What language is that, child?"

" _What? It's like you've never heard English before."_

"We'll continue this later. In the meantime, consider my offer."

* * *

I woke up in my bed.  _"That was a weird dream."_  Usually I don't remember my dreams at all. I slipped out of bed and started putting on my training weights and favorite black coat over my clothes.  _"Weird dreams are a bad sign. Even if that voice asked a pretty good question. Do I really want to be a ninja?"_

I walked downstairs to the kitchens to find something to eat. The orphanage was always quiet in the early hours before dawn. I nabbed some rice and miso from the prepared food that was intended to be breakfast for everyone in the dormitory. After eating, I washed my dishes and headed outside. I walked past a couple caretakers arriving. They gave me a wide berth and waited until I had passed until they continued their friendly conversation.

Now that it was winter, I had a lot of time off from the flower shop. I only worked there when Inoichi was preoccupied with ninja business. I did some stretches outside while I waited for Naruto. He arrived while I was in the middle of a kata. My taijutsu was a mish-mash of remembered techniques. Some of them I knew I had learned from anime, but others I suspected I knew from real life. Naruto picked up a lot of it during our spars and it seemed like we were slowly starting to work out the kinks.

"Hey, Haru! What are we going to do today?"

"That depends. You finally broke the rubber ball, right?" I asked as I finished the exercise with a kick.

"Yeah! I finally got it to work yesterday. I can't believe it took a whole month just do that." Naruto looked very proud of himself until he finished that last sentence by scratching his head sheepishly.

I took out an empty rubber balloon and inflated it with my breath. I tied it off and handed it to Naruto. "Now you have to do exactly the same thing you did inside the rubber ball inside this balloon. When you can do it without breaking the balloon, then I'll show you the next step. Just try to remember that the more you keep your chakra in a sphere, the better." I passed him a sack of flat balloons.

In my head, the next step was two Rasengan at once. After that, launching Rasengan as a projectile. Naruto was simply amazing. I was pretty sure no three year old was supposed to have that much chakra or chakra control. I could teach him just about anything that didn't necessitate small amounts of chakra or hand seals. He'd do anything for trip to Ramen Ichiraku, so he was easy to motivate.

I considered trying to get him to do an elemental manipulation like I showed him long ago.  _"That would make him extra deadly, wouldn't it?"_  I probably would after he mastered the basic Rasengan. I was a little jealous, to be honest. The Yondaime's son had the potential to be a prodigy as long as you knew how to teach him. He'd mastered the Replacement Technique and Transformation Technique. He'd be a monstrous shinobi if he ever got his hands on the Shadow Clone Technique.

"Naruto, why do you want to become a ninja?" His latest balloon popped as I broke his concentration.

"Isn't it obvious? Ninja can do so many cool things. I'm gonna be the greatest ninja that ever lived. You're gonna be a great ninja too, even though I gotta be better." He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"A great ninja," I repeated. I had yet to burst my own rubber ball. I couldn't do any of the academy jutsu. "Naruto, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Huh? Sure, Haru."

I led Naruto to my customary training spot behind the orphanage. There, I sat on the ground and crossed my legs, meditating. As I waited for him to join me, I began to spread out my chakra. Nowadays there was a bit more meat to my chakra; it had more physical energies in the composition now. It was still a bit lopsided with spiritual energy though.

I could feel Naruto through my chakra as it blanketed the area. It was like if you sprinkled dust everywhere and you could feel all the chakras the dust touched. He sat in front of me without needing to be prompted.

"Naruto, I want to try to teach you a technique. But this technique, I don't even know if I know the right way to do it."

"Huh? What are you talking about? You're not making any sense, Haru."

I just sat there, sheltered in my coat. "The idea behind this technique is that you take all of your chakra and you split it in half. You keep half inside yourself and the other half you turn into a clone of yourself. Do you remember the Clone Technique? It's similar to that, only instead of just being an image, it's an actual physical chakra construct. Because it is made from your chakra, it will be able to think and use your techniques. And when the clone's chakra is disrupted, it will return any chakra that wasn't used up back to you."

"Woah, you can do that, Haru?"

"No, Naruto, I can't."

"How do you know so much about it then? I don't get it."

I chuckled under my hood. "I read a lot, remember?"

"Hmmmmm. So it's like the Clone Technique but better?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I think it would be a good jutsu for you."

"Awesome! Thanks, Haru. So, what are the hand seals?"

"I don't know, Naruto."

"Eh? How am I supposed to learn it then?"

"We're going to sit here and try to make our chakra do the thing I described. If you can do it by the end of the day, I'll treat you to Ichiraku's. How's that sound?"

"Ramen? Yes! I'll learn this technique in no time. You'll see!"

"I'll show you in a genjutsu what it should look like. Remember, you just want to flood your chakra out and make a copy of yourself with it. Just take your chakra and shape it. I'll watch and see if I can give you advice."

* * *

Despite trying all day, we couldn't figure it out by the time night fell. I still treated Naruto to ramen anyway.


	15. Chapter 15

I was still pissed that I couldn't teach Naruto the Shadow Clone Technique. I had to admit it was a long shot. But a few days of trying hadn't produced any results. If we had the actual technique, I was sure Naruto could learn it in a few hours. Just knowing what the technique was supposed to do wasn't enough to recreate it though. I didn't feel confident in experimenting with my own meager chakra reserves, knowing it was a kinjutsu for a reason.

Normally when I walked around town, I wore my red kimono and white hakama. But today, I just sulked in my long black coat. This was my last day off and I needed to do some shopping.  _"Damn, why is chakra paper so freaking expensive?"_  I kept one of my precious square sheets in hand and stowed the rest away. As soon as I was out of the ninja supply store, I sent a trickle of chakra through my fingers into the paper.  _"Is it supposed to smoke like that?"_

I wasn't quite sure what had happened. The paper should have ignited if I had a fire affinity and not acted like a paper smoke pellet.  _"Maybe that one was a dud?"_  I pulled out another sheet. I concentrated on kneading my energies together to create more chakra. Again, I sent a trickle of chakra into the paper through my fingers. This time, the square of paper ignited and turned to ash, blowing away in the wind.  _"So fire, huh?"_

By now, I was getting some weird looks from passerbys. I would have loved to scare the wits out of them but not when I was somewhere as public as the Konoha shopping district. I was about to walk off when I saw an interesting face sneering at me.

I walked quickly towards a scowling boy with dark brown hair who stood with a woman, who I assumed was his mother, watching me approach. "Kami-sama be praised! Why, I do see before me a child of destiny! One that was born under the most auspicious of stars!" I spoke to the heavens, waving my walking stick in the air. The woman pulled on the shoulders of the young Neji Hyuga, as if to lead him away from the strange midget in black clothes.

I followed them, intent on being as annoying as possible. "Child, so many destinies lay before you. Truly, you are one who commands fate. If only I could see which future you decide for yourself."

"My destiny was determined the moment I was born," spat at me despite the older woman trying to pull him away. "What would you know about destiny?"

"A few things."

"Who are you?" young Neji asked, bringing his hands together in a seal to peer under my hood with the Byakugan.

"I'm just a wandering priest."

"A priest? A priest of what?" Neji asked, Byakugan fully activated.

"That is a good question to ask, I suppose."

"You didn't answer my question! Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Hm..." I stifled a laugh as best I could as I brought a single finger in front of my lips. "Now that is a secret."

Neji lost all composure at that moment, becoming visibly enraged as his patience with me ran out. That was my cue to leave. I ran away as fast as I could while laughing to myself, but not before yelling back to the boy, "Take good care of your cute little cousin!"

* * *

I leaned against the wall in an alley to catch my breath. Neji had stopped chasing me a couple streets ago, but I definitely did not want a gentle fist in my gut.  _"Man, I miss anime,"_  I thought gravely to myself for a moment.

I was surprised when I heard someone speak up next to me, "Haru of the Leaf. You are to come with me." The deep male voice was only slightly muffled by the porcelain mask the ninja wore. I couldn't figure out what animal it was supposed to be.

"Oh? Is that so? What do you want with little, old me? Am I in trouble?" Under my coat, I prepared an image of myself that would follow the shinobi, just in case I didn't like his answer.

"My orders are to bring you with me," he spoke coldly, shifting to a more threatening stance. "That is all I have to say to you." I did not like the way he gripped that tanto. Without moving or speaking, I sent my chakra at him and began to conjure another layer to put on top of the first illusion of myself coming along willingly. Being swallowed up by my shadows would be a bit nastier in comparison to the first layer, but if he broke the first layer, he probably deserved it.

I immediately heard a sharp yell of "Kai!" He followed up by taunting me, "That was too easy." Then another "Kai!" If I counted right, he should be seeing a frightened me begging for my life. "Kai!" Now it would be him surrounded by numerous clones of myself. I heard one last angry "Kai!" behind me as I was running for my life, my hood flopping against my back.

I tried to figure out the situation as I ran down the streets toward the Hokage's office.  _"Why do the ANBU want me? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to teach Naruto the Rasengan."_  At the rate that guy was going through layers, he should be getting to the last one right about now, the one where I'm just standing there ignoring him. I ran as fast as my short legs would carry me.

* * *

I careened into the administrative building's lobby. Despite the impropriety, I ignored the stares of waiting ninja and staff and walked up the front counter. "Excuse me, I think I might have been summoned by the Hokage. Is he expecting me?"

The lady across the counter looked down at me without moving her head. "Your name?"

"My name is Haru," I said with a cheery smile.

"How old are you, Haru-san?"

"Three? Four? Something like that." I looked as innocent as I could.

The receptionist opened a massive book in front of her and scanned it with her fingers. "You don't seem to be listed here."

" _Is that so."_ I looked around the room. No masked ninja here. It seemed like the coast was clear.

She spoke to me unexpectedly, "Haru-san, would you like to see the Hokage?"

" _What? I can do that?"_  Was it really that easy to see the Hokage? "Okay," I answered, flabbergasted.

"Have a seat and wait, Haru-san."

I turned around and found a chair to sink into. I replaced my hood and started to think.  _"What just happened? Was that ANBU lying? Was that even a Konoha ANBU? Did I mess up somewhere? Oh, God, I'm about to meet Hiruzen."_  It was a painfully slow hour before the receptionist called my name. It felt like if I just thought about it a little more, I would figure it out but I didn't have any more time. I walked upstairs to the Hokage's office.

* * *

"It is very nice to meet you, Haru-kun," Sarutobi said as he sat behind his desk, voice deep and solemn with age. He took off his wide-brimmed, white hat and placed it on his desk. "However, I am very curious as to why you are here."

However intimidating the Sandaime was, I couldn't help but stare at the man seated across from him in one of two chairs in front of the desk. It was impossible to take my eyes off the bandages wrapped around the man's head.

"Oh, this is a friend of mine, Shimura Danzo. He expressed interest in meeting you and I allowed him to stay for this. I hope you don't mind." Danzo turned his head toward me and smiled. Not even Orochimaru's grin was as creepy as Danzo trying to seem unthreatening.

" _I do very much mind. Let's see, Shisui shouldn't be dead yet, but he'll still have the Sharingan."_  I'd have to be extremely careful what I said. And definitely no genjutsu.

"Greetings, Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama." I pulled back my hood and bowed respectfully to them both. "I had a feeling that I should come here to talk to you."

"Please, have a seat, Haru-kun," offered the Hokage with an outstretched hand toward the seat next to Danzo. "In fact, we were just talking about you. When I learned you were here, I had hoped you would pay me a visit. Still, what a coincidence that you would show up just now," he mentioned, his fingers steepled in front of his face.

"Let's just say that I have good intuition, Hokage-sama. Don't tell me you were about to send someone to bring me here." I looked over to Danzo. Both of us smiled placidly at each other.

"No, nothing like that. It is just that I have been hearing reports that you have been giving the caretakers at the orphanage a bit of trouble. Something about 'a demon child' frightening the other children and corrupting...one little boy in particular. Do you have anything to say for yourself regarding this?"

"Naruto is my friend," I said stoically.

"I see. Well, I want to..."

"We're going to go to the academy together and become ninja. And one day, Naruto will be the Hokage," I blurted suddenly, not wanting it to go unspoken. I felt kind of embarrassed to say Naruto's dream for him, but, at the same time, it felt kind of right.

The Hokage chuckled. "I was just going to ask that you continue to be a friend to Naruto. That boy is going to have a hard life when he's older. But I am glad to see he has someone he can depend on.

He continued, "I have also heard a very interesting story about a precocious young boy with a strong talent for genjutsu, a hard-working child who works in the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop and trains every day."

"I needed the money to buy this." I pulled out a sheet of chakra paper and activated it. It smoldered and smoked in my hand. It was supposed to burn but I just ignored the surprised looks on the two men's faces and continued my explanation. "They said that when I was a baby, the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha. They told me that my parents died in the attack. One day, I will find the person responsible for unleashing the Nine-Tails and kill him. Only then will I be satisfied."

"What? The Nine-Tails is a natural disaster. It can't be controlled by human beings," Danzo finally spoke up, no longer smiling.

"Are you saying that the Sharingan can't control the Nine-Tails?" I asked with an anger that surprised even me, standing out of my seat.

"Why do you think the Sharingan can do such a thing?" Hiruzen intoned, speaking slowly and seriously.

I strongly considered telling the Hokage to ask Danzo but knew I couldn't explain why he would know. I had a feeling that I would regret what I said next but it was the only out I could think of.

"Why don't you go and ask the Nine-Tails for yourself?" I would have enjoyed the pure shock on their faces ordinarily but every ounce of my concentration was focused on answering the Hokage's questions. I couldn't reveal how I actually knew about Madara obviously.

"Do you mean that the Nine-Tails has attempted to contact you?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in shock.

"Naruto doesn't know. He doesn't even know the Nine-Tails is inside of him. Sometimes, when the moon is full, I have a dream where it talks to me. Someone weilding the Sharingan forced it to attack the village. It wants revenge for being used. Just like I want to avenge my parents."

The Hokage immediately went into damage control mode. "You are to tell no one about this. Not even Naruto. The Nine-Tails is extremely dangerous. And extremely valuable. Naruto might be in danger if the wrong people learn that he is the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. Revealing village secrets is tantamount to treason and punishable by death. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The old man sighed deeply. "Is there anything else you have to add?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I want you to teach me the Shadow Clone Technique!" I told him, pointing at his face.

Sarutobi chuckled, a little levity returning to his face. "I'm a bit too old to be taking on students. But I'll see what I can do."

"Also, I wanted to ask. What were my parents like?"

Sarutobi sighed again, but his face was soft. "I'm sorry, Haru-kun. I didn't know your parents very well."

I was a little disappointed but I said nothing.

The Hokage smiled. "Well, Haru-kun, I am glad we had this talk. Both my friend and I expect great things from you." As he gestured toward Danzo, something clicked in my mind. "If the Nine-Tails tells you anything else, or does anything unusual, don't hesitate to tell me. And remember, you are still young. You have plenty of time to become strong. After all, most children do not even start attending the academy until they are six."

" _You're wrong. There's so very little time. You don't know what is coming. Not like I do."_

"Does that mean you won't teach me the Shadow Clone Technique?"

"Now, now, I didn't say that," he said, casting a hard eye on me. Maybe it was a mistake to bring it up again. "I will do what I can, Haru-kun. Have some trust in this old man."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"You are excused."

I bowed and then turned to Danzo to bow again. "Danzo-sama, I must humbly decline your offer," I said while rising from the bow. "I hope that by now, you understand why." I gave him as warm a smile as I could.  _"Please don't murder me in my sleep,"_  I didn't add.

He said nothing, his single eye fixed on me and the innocent face I was intentionally making as I left the room. I hoped he was going to have a hell of a time explaining to the Hiruzen what his 'offer' was.


	16. Chapter 16

I stepped into a tea house, leaning my walking stick against the inside of the door and finding a seat without waiting for someone to help me. I would have put my feet up on the chair across from mine if my legs were long enough.

"Hello, do you know what you'd...oh, Haru-chan," she said as I pulled off my hood. "I didn't recognize you in your, um, new clothes. The usual?"

"Yes, please, Hikari-san," I said more brusquely than I should have. I knew it was her by her voice. She was always nice to me whenever I would stop by after work. But I was so stressed that a simple smile was beyond me right now.  _"It's weird to think that people actually know me here, that this is not just a dream. I'm actually sitting here, waiting for my tea."_

"Thank you, Hikari-san." I did my best to give her a happy smile, trying to be nicer.

She laughed. "You're welcome, Haru-chan!" I slipped her the ryo to pay for my green tea before she walked away to wait on other customers.

My hands were so cold, even with the hot mug of tea cradled in my fingers. They were shaking so much, I couldn't bring the tea to my lips. I gulped, feeling the dryness in my mouth, as I put down the tea cup without drinking.

" _That was Danzo. And he wanted me in Root. How am I still alive?"_  Danzo was not someone I ever wanted to go against, much less meet. I knew he had at least one Sharingan already. Judging from his clothes, he hadn't experimented with Hashirama's cells yet. And I was pretty sure the Uchihas would be around until after Sasuke joined the academy.  _"Is there anything I can do about that? Should I do anything?"_  As much as it rankled me to consider it, maybe Neji was right for once. I didn't want to accept that the Uchiha Clan was fated to die, but I didn't know what I could do.

What can I do? All I had was some wonky genjutsu, make-believe taijutsu and an incomplete A-rank jutsu that I stole from Naruto's future.  _"How do I even know what happens in the first place? What kind of life did I have before this?"_  Some days, I could almost believe that I was simply the precocious child that people thought of me as. But I was always finding myself knowing how to do things subconsciously, instinctively, as if I had done them a thousand times before. Habits like how I held my tea cup, or how I cleaned up after myself at the orphanage dining area, or how calming it was to sweep and clean at Yamanaka Flowers, or how natural it was to hold something in my hand as I walked.

Why could I remember so much, but not even know who I was? It felt like something had been stolen away from me, like something was missing, but I couldn't even remember what was lost. I could maybe remember the shape of my window, but I couldn't remember what the view was like. I had a map in my mind of the area where I lived. But I couldn't remember any of the names of places, nor much beyond simply the layout of the streets and generic memories of houses and buildings. There was no sense of time in any of my memories, no order, just a lot of facts and fleeting images.

I sipped on my warm tea.

* * *

When I finally came home in the evening, as much as the orphanage could be called home, Naruto was nowhere to be found. It was strange not to hear his voice calling my name. I didn't think much of it as I got ready for bed. I had to be at work in the morning.

It was the same after I had gone to bed and woken up. After donning my work kimono and making sure I had the right training weights for that week, I went to check on Naruto. He wasn't in his bed, despite the early morning hour. But I didn't have the time to look for him. It was bad enough that his room was on the opposite end of the orphanage. I grabbed some rice cakes for myself and ate them on the way to the flower shop.

* * *

When I arrived, there was someone waiting outside the flower shop.  _"Oh, god, not him. Please don't let it be true."_  But those sunglasses and that serious expression were unmistakable. I ignored him as I walked inside.

Momoka Yamanaka was behind the counter, along with Ino on the stool next to her. Upon seeing me, Ino became wide-eyed and stared at me before slowly sinking down behind the counter.  _"Why does she always do that?"_  I wondered.

"Haru-chan, there's someone here to meet you," said Ino's mother.

Before I could say anything, I heard Ebisu speaking behind me. "Hello, Haru. I am Ebisu. The Hokage has asked me to provide you with instruction in the ninja arts."

I desperately looked to the smiling Momoka. But all she said was, "Don't worry. It's about time for Ino to start learning the family business anyways." And then she said the cruelest part of all, "Ebisu-san has already explained everything. I'm sad to see you go but I know you can't pass up an opportunity like this. You will work hard and become a fine ninja, won't you, Haru-chan?"

Automatically, I answered, "Yes, Yamanaka-san."

"Well, shall we go, Haru?" I hung my head and started to leave with Ebisu.

"Ino-chan, don't be rude. Say goodbye to Haru-chan," Ino's mother insisted.

I turned around to see a blushing Ino staring at her feet. Ino squeaked out, "Goodbye, Haru-kun."

I smiled and waved to her as I left, "Farewell, Ino-san!" She blushed even harder.  _"Huh. I know Ino becomes really confident when she's older. Even so, it's weird to see Ino being so shy. I guess she changes when she meets Sasuke or something."_

* * *

"Alright, Haru. Let's start with a review of what you know." Ebisu had taken us to the many training grounds within Konoha. This one was mostly empty with some trees around the edges.

"Um, Ebisu-sensei, the only thing I know how to do for sure is a few chakra control exercises." It was mostly true.

"Demonstrate," my new teacher commanded as he pushed up his glasses.

I walked a short distance to the nearest tree and walked up the trunk to collect some leaves. Still standing parallel to the ground, I counted out ten leaves and stuck one on each finger.

"Impressive," Ebisu commented.

Then, I extended the chakra from my fingertips, suspending each leaf in the air, with strings of chakra. Just because I couldn't do hand seals didn't mean I hadn't taught myself anything else in the past year. From floating a single leaf above my hand, this was the natural evolution of that exercise. It definitely helped out at the flower shop. I made the leaves spin slowly in a circle between me and Ebisu.

While I had his attention on my trick with the chakra threads. I collected my chakra for a genjutsu. Ebisu would probably appreciate this one. I could tell it had worked when he flew backwards, propelled by a sudden nosebleed.  _"He should be getting to the good part just about now."_ Ebisu screamed out a "Kai!" while still on the ground.  _"Harem no Jutsu isn't quite so sexy when the girls are suddenly rotting zombies."_

By now, I had dismissed the chakra threads to focus on crafting the genjutsu. The second layer was an illusionary world of black and white, with nonsensical stairs straight out of an M.C. Escher painting. Next would be a copy of the training grounds, a copy of reality, only with sexy zombie girls erupting from the ground. I figured three layers ought to be sufficient as a demonstration, although I still had plenty of chakra left.

I waited on the ground next to Ebisu's body for him to break out of the genjutsu. The second "Kai!" came out soon enough, but when it was time for the third, he just screamed, his semi-conscious body writhing on the ground as if he just couldn't wake up from a nightmare. I took pity on him and withdrew my chakra.

He woke with a start, gripping a kunai immediately as he sat up and scanned the training ground for danger.

"Did you enjoy your nap, Ebisu-sensei?" I asked, still seated calmly on the ground with my legs crossed.

"You." Ebisu checked himself for wounds, as if making sure it was just a dream. "Where did you learn genjutsu like that?" I could see Ebisu's eyes despite the dark tint of his sunglasses. They bored into me as if I had just threatened his life.

I wished I had my coat just then. I didn't feel like being polite. After all, I had just gotten fired today. "I figured it out by myself, Ebisu-sensei," I said, coldly and distantly, recalling the events of my short life here on this world.

Ebisu's breathing was just about normal now. "I guess that explains why the Hokage asked me to teach you. And the Shadow Clone Technique?"

"I couldn't figure it out." I wasn't going to tell Ebisu that I wanted to learn it more for Naruto's sake than mine.

"That is a very dangerous technique. Your chakra is split evenly between you and each of your clones, meaning that you could put your life in danger if your chakra reserves are too small or your chakra control is bad." His eyes grew serious again, but this time with concern more for me than himself.

"I thought as much, Ebisu-sensei."

"Do you know the normal Clone Technique?"

Embarassed, I hung my head and admitted, "No."

He gave me a strange look before bringing up his hands. "Look closely, these are the hand seals."

I interrupted him, "I already know the hand seals." I went through the motions with practiced speed. I could perform them fast enough that I was relatively sure that the hand seals weren't the problem. It killed me that I had wasted so much time on them in the past.

"Hm? So what's the problem then?"

"It doesn't work. Nothing I do that uses hand seals works."

"So your genjutsu...doesn't use hand seals?"

"No? Is it supposed to?"

Ebisu froze, staring at me like I truly was a demon child. I brought up three fingers, summoning a swirling storm of chakra between them. My Rasengan was smaller than Naruto's. I figured it was because I had less chakra than he did. For some reason, it was easier to make a smaller one just above the crook of my thumb and forefinger than to build it above the palm of my hand. I figured I'd try for a proper sized Rasengan when I had a bit more chakra. I still had to work on perfecting the sphere shape, however, as evidenced by the unstable chakra wobbling in my hand.

It looked impressive as hell, but it wasn't even strong enough to burst a rubber ball. I was a bit disappointed in myself, but I was sure I'd get it eventually. Now that I knew I had a fire nature, I wondered if I could make it burn with a nature transformation.

"What is that?" Ebisu asked, his eye twitching.

"Something I've been working on," I answered plainly as I summoned another mini-Rasengan in my other hand. I liked to play with them when I got bored.

"That is a very unique shape transformation," he stated in fascination.

I threw both balls of chakra toward the trees but they dissipated harmlessly as they left my hands. It would be a long time before I was flinging around flaming Rasengans.

"Like I said, I'm still working on it. So now what, Ebisu-sensei?"

" _Why couldn't I have gotten a cute teacher like Kurenai? Or at the very least someone I could mess with like Kakashi? Anyone but Ebisu, the most boring teacher in the world."_

Ebisu shrugged. "Do whatever you want for today."

"What?" I was not expecting that.

"I have to check on something. Just make sure you're here tomorrow morning. Understand, Haru?"

"Yes, Ebisu-sensei," I said as Ebisu shunshined away in a whirl of leaves.

I fell onto my back and stared up at the clouds.  _"I wonder where Naruto went."_


	17. Chapter 17

I arrived at the training ground in the morning. This time I wore my favorite black coat.  _"Ebisu can suck a lemon if he doesn't like it."_  It wasn't like I was getting paid to be there. I leaned against a tree with my arms crossed to wait for Ebisu.

" _I've gotten taller,"_  I noted to myself. When I first found it in that wardrobe, it would reach my ankles. Now it was still ridiculously oversized but only reached below my knees. It still hid my face just fine though.  _"Maybe I should look into getting a proper Black Coat made?"_  I tried to estimate how much it would cost until I heard Ebisu flicker in next to me.

"Are you Haru?"

That was not Ebisu's voice.

I looked out from under my hood at the person who had just spoken to me. White hair, red haori, scroll poking from his back, and eerily early to be in Konoha, I knew who it was.

"Let me introduce myself! The legendary sage of Mount Myoboku, they call me the Toad Sage!" During his speech he had summoned a toad to stand on and made a majestic pose.

"Jiraiya-sama. Where is Naruto?" I asked without moving.

He suddenly because very serious as he dismissed his summon, scrutinizing the cloaked figure in front of him as he spoke, "Why do you think I would know where Naruto is?"

"I haven't seen him in two days. He disappears and suddenly the legendary Toad Sage introduces himself to me? Are you telling me that you aren't here because of Naruto?"

"Actually, I'm here for you, Haru," he admitted in a friendly voice. "You're lucky I was in town. Your teacher told me that you wanted to learn the Shadow Clone Technique but was having some problems with the hand seals. And he mentioned that you were working on a very interesting technique that I wanted to see." Jiraiya's painted face looked as kind and inviting as ever, but I knew there was a keen mind behind those eyes.

I felt like a member of Akatsuki in a standoff with the Sennin. I pulled back my hood and continued to stare at him. "What kind of technique did Ebisu describe?"

Jiraiya's friendly face grew a little more menacing, like a cat that was playing with its mouse before the meal. "Let's not play dumb. I'm a busy man. You should appreciate the fact I took the time off to help you."

Resentfully, I brought my hands up, summoning my mini-Rasengans between three clawed fingers in each hand. They shook violently as they threatened to dissipate. I already knew that I hadn't perfected the sphere shape or reinforced the chakra enough.

With ice in his voice, Jiraiya growled, "Who taught you this?"

" _I learned it from you."_

" _I can see the future."_

" _Is it so weird to copy the Fourth's techniques?"_

" _I just figured it out on my own."_

" _I have dreams about the Silver Millenium."_

" _The Kyubi taught me."_

So many lies. Too many lies.

"No one taught me."

Suddenly, I found myself on the ground, staring up at Jiraiya's intense glare. The large man was holding me to the ground and pressing a kunai to my throat. "I don't like repeating myself. How do you know the Rasengan?"

Shamefully, I admitted, "I don't know. I really don't know."  _"And I really wish I knew."_

He stared at me, obviously not liking the answer.

"Let the boy go, Jiraiya," commanded a grizzled old voice.

"Tsch." Jiraiya stabbed the kunai down into the ground next to my head. "Stay away from Naruto," he warned threateningly. He flickered to the side of the Hokage in an instant. Cautiously, I rose to my feet. I think this was the first time I ever felt such deep shame in this life. And I didn't really even understand why.

"I had the head of the intelligence division verify that he is just a child," Sarutobi reassured Jiraiya. "Haru is not being manipulated by anyone. He merely has a strong intelligence and overactive imagination."

My eyes widened.  _"Inoichi? When did he...?"_

"Even so, I can't stand this kid. He reminds me too much of someone I know. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Find someone else to teach him," Jiraiya spat out, not caring whether I heard him.

"Haru-kun, I have something for you." Sarutobi walked up to me and handed me a thin, manila folder. "I am sorry I could only find so much about your parents." I took it wordlessly. The Hokage turned back to Jiraiya and asked, "You are leaving then?"

With as much respect as he could muster at the moment, Jiraiya responded, "I've checked over the seal. But it'll still be a while before I know for sure if everything is fine. I'll have him back to you in time for the academy." With a bow, he flickered away in a puff of smoke.

"Wait, he's taking Naruto? Why is he taking Naruto?" I asked Hiruzen, unable to comprehend the situation.

The Hokage spoke in his gruff voice, "Well, since you made it clear that the Nine-Tails was able to communicate with others, I had Jiraiya inspect the seal. He said that everything was fine but wanted to take Naruto with him for a while to be sure."

_"But I haven't taught Naruto the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu yet. And..."_

I was almost four. That meant the academy was two years away. I wouldn't see Naruto for the next two years.  _"I never got the chance to say goodbye."_  As I stood helplessly in the training ground, the mysterious shame from earlier burned in my eyes. I pulled my hood over my face and waited for the feeling to pass. By the time it did, the Hokage had already left and I was alone.


	18. Chapter 18

My parents were named Nodoka and Seishirou. Nodoka was a serious-looking woman with a sharp face, murderous eyes, and long red hair. Seishirou was a tall, feminine-looking man with black hair that framed his face. Unlike his wife, he was smiling in his picture. Both of them were wearing chunin vests and headbands in their pictures. I undoubtedly looked like their child.

I stared at their pictures for a long time. They had been on the same genin team growing up. Judging by the number of missions that were listed on their files, they seemed like ordinary ninja that had been tragically cut down in their prime by the Kyubi. There wasn't much about either of them in the folder the Hokage had given me. A little thin for two jounin, but the Hokage probably wasn't going to hand a kid detailed mission reports.

Contrary to my expectations, Seishirou was the kenjutsu expert with a decent genjutsu score. Nodoka had a focus in ninjutsu with a secondary talent in taijutsu. I wished there was more but their descriptions were woefully brief.

Seeing their faces made me finally realize that my existence here wasn't a mistake. It wasn't just a dream that would fade when I awoke. I had parents. I would have had a family, if it weren't for the Kyubi. I felt like I had lost something, even though I didn't even know it existed until now.

* * *

Training with Ebisu was miserable. According to him, my chakra control was completely backward and my taijutsu was a complete mess. It was about three weeks of tedious, daily hand seal drills before he finally called in a Hyuga to see what was going on with my chakra. Apparently I wasn't properly combining my physical and spiritual energies together to convert them to chakra. It was like oil and vinegar that I hadn't managed to shake well enough.

It had worked well enough for genjutsu simply because I had an uncannily large amount of spiritual energy, despite wasting a majority of it. What small amounts of chakra that I successfully managed to produce were enough for the simple chakra control exercises I had been doing, such as chakra threads, tree walking, and water walking. But anything more complex than just emitting chakra, such as ninjutsu that required handseals, was completely beyond my level of chakra control. It was also partially why my Rasengans were so weak and unstable. I had essentially been fueling my techniques with unrefined, crude oil that would clog the tenketsu in my hand seals and barely work for my other techniques.

Ebisu completely dismissed all of my taijutsu as worthless and started teaching me the basics of the standard Konoha style of taijutsu. And he told me that the way I would stare at my opponent's feet when fighting was ridiculous. From my spars with Naruto, I had developed some decent reflexes but apparently most of Ryozanpaku's techniques were useless against properly trained ninja. Whoops.

And when Ebisu learned that I had been using training weights for the last year, he looked at me like I was a space alien that had climbed out of a human suit. Apparently, the reason why more people didn't use training weights at a young age was that it interfered with the body's development. It was customary to use training weights only after managing a good amount of chakra control and after attaining one's full stature. But in my case, the damage had already been done. Double whoops.

* * *

By the time I had turned five, I had started to properly convert my energies into chakra. I still had trouble channeling my chakra through my chakra circulatory system, losing much of it simply sending it to the tenketsu in my hands. But it was enough to summon a dingy, inaccurate illusionary clone, suggesting that Ebisu might actually be a competent teacher.

I spent my birthday practicing the Bunshin no Jutsu in an empty training field.  _"April 19. It feels so familiar. Was that my birthday before too?"_ My mind wandered back to the thin folder that the Hokage had given me nearly a year ago. The only mention of myself in the report was a copy of my birth certificate. It meant that I was six months older than Naruto. The day Naruto was born, my parents had died.  _"Shouldn't I have some memories of my parents?"_  I had been six months old, after all. Why was everything so clear only after the Kyubi's attack?

"You'll never manage the Clone Technique with that level of focus," said a voice from above me.

"Sorry. I've had a lot on my mind lately," I muttered from underneath my hood, scanning the trees discreetly for the source of the voice.

"If you want to be a ninja, you'll have to work hard and not get distracted by every little thing," said the young ninja who landed behind me.

"That is true, Kabuto, but sometimes introspection is healthy for the soul."

I could feel the Four-Eyes peering at me behind my back. "How do you know my name?"

I shrugged. "I've seen you around. Now you tell me something. Do you know who I am?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? Of course not. I've never met you before." Kabuto answered.

I looked up at the sky. It was foolish to mess with Kabuto like this. I hadn't even been sure it was Kabuto until he confirmed my wild guess. But somewhere inside me, I wished he had an answer to my question.

"Don't worry about it. I guess it's not something you could answer. Hey, Kabuto, you don't want to get some ramen, do you?" I offered, pulling off my hood and turning around with a smile on my face.

"Ah, sorry. I'm busy. Good luck with your training," he said as he disappeared, body flickering across the tree branches.

" _Oh, well. His loss."_  I decided then that I deserved a break from training. Ramen sounded like a really good idea.


	19. Chapter 19

I had been given a small stipend and apartment on the condition that I would 'grow up to be a fine ninja.' When I read the fine print on the agreement, it was clear that I was essentially receiving a loan that I would pay back when I was able to do missions. Still, it meant I didn't have to worry so much about my dwindling savings. I swear, the day that I left the orphanage, the entire staff threw a party in honor of the day the demon child left. Not to mention the exorcist they hired to purify my room.

It was nice being able to focus solely on training for a while, even if I had to put up with the stick-in-the-mud Ebisu. I appreciated everything he did for me but the man was so tedious and boring. He drilled me on all the basics from hand seals and chakra control to shurikenjutsu and taijutsu. It galled me to no end that Ebisu refused to teach me anything more advanced than the academy jutsus, stating that I was not ready for fire techniques or the Kage Bunshin. He was probably right but I still felt shafted. Even fuinjutsu was 'too dangerous for someone not even academy age.'

Yet, I did everything he told me to do. I ran laps, did push-ups, threw countless shuriken and senbon, all the while adjusting to heavier and heavier weights.  _"At least he wasn't Maito Gai,"_  I told myself. It constantly struck me as weird that no matter how much I trained, I didn't really build visible muscle.  _"Maybe chakra makes it work differently here? Maybe it's because I'm young?"_

I still looked as pretty as ever. It was embarrassing. Even my voice was adorable. Never mind Sasuke. I was going to be strong competition for cutest rookie, male or female. I often considered cutting my hair. Long, flowing, and red, it didn't really make the most 'correct' impression, but it felt wrong to imagine myself with short hair. Instead I just kept my hood up constantly and spoke only when necessary. I tended to get incredulous looks from restaurant staff whenever I took my coat off to eat but that couldn't be helped.

And my favorite black coat had seen better days. Unlike when I had first found it, now it was perhaps only a couple sizes too big. The elbows were worn down and some of the seams had started to come apart. I planned on getting a new one made before the academy.

* * *

"I've brought someone here to see you, Haru," Ebisu said as he stood next to Kurenai Yuhi. "This is Kurenai Yuhi. She is an expert in genjutsu and I asked her to take a look at your, well, unique genjutsu skills."

"It is an honor to meet you, Kurenai-sama." I bowed respectfully. Ebisu hissed something at me about removing my hood but I ignored him.

"It's nice to meet you too, Haru-chan," Kurenai said with a smile, her deep red eyes softening gently. "I suppose we should start with a demonstration. Show me what you've got."

By the time she had finished the sentence, I had already laid a genjutsu on her. I had not been slacking on my genjutsu training. As soon as I had learned what was wrong with my chakra, I began to experiment with sending proper chakra in my genjutsu. It hadn't changed much except now my illusions were terrifying difficult to break out of.

Predictably, Kurenai had frozen where she stood, lost in a dream. Ebisu looked at her, and then me, and then back to her, wondering whether he should do something. I just waited impassively for her to try to dispel the illusion.

As usual, I started the fiction innocuously enough, with myself asking her what type of illusion she wanted to see. Presumably Ebisu and I would see signs of her trying to break the genjutsu when she notices that under my coat there was no body. Or at the very least when she became surrounded by empty black coats. Surely she would break out by the time that they caught on fire and became flaming demons.

I looked over to Ebisu. "Ebisu-sensei, should I stop the genjutsu?"

"That might be a good idea, Haru."

I pulled my chakra out of Kurenai's head. She began to slump to the ground but Ebisu swiftly caught her unconscious body. I hadn't been going easy on Kurenai, but hoped that I hadn't gone too far.

* * *

I walked silently behind Ebisu, hoping to god that Asuma wasn't about to randomly show up. We were about halfway to the hospital before Kurenai woke up in Ebisu's arms.

"Are you okay, Kurenai?" Ebisu asked. He gently let her slip out of his arms to stand on her own two feet.

"What happened?" asked the red-eyed woman as she slowly took in her surroundings, realizing that she was no longer on the training field and instead standing in one of Konoha's less populated streets.

"Ah, we were worried when you didn't break out of Haru's genjutsu so we decided to take you to the hospital." Ebisu turned away as he spoke, his face flushing red from having to talk to the attractive kunoichi he had previously been carrying.

Kurenai turned to look at me and for a moment, I could see the vestiges of fear in her face. "That was genjutsu?" I nodded back to her. "It felt so real. So horrific." She turned to Ebisu and inquired quietly, "A kekkai genkai?"

Ebisu pushed up his glasses with his fingers and shook his head. "No. Haru simply has a preternatural affinity for genjutsu," he answered quietly. I could hear them quite plainly talking about me so I decided to interrupt.

"Kurenai-sama. I want to ask you if there is a way to prevent yourself from falling under a genjutsu." Kurenai stared at me. Her brow furrowed as she considered what I said next. "Is it possible to inoculate or shield yourself from foreign chakra? Wouldn't that be preferable to reacting after the genjutsu takes hold?"

It was a moment before Kurenai answered. Ebisu was speechless as well. "That is a very interesting question, Haru-chan. I...I don't know," she admitted. It seemed pretty obvious to me that if you were only capable of defeating a genjutsu after you realized it was affecting you, then all someone would have to do was layer genjutsu upon genjutsu faster than the victim could break out of them. Assuming you had enough chakra to cast genjutsu indefinitely, the victim would never escape.

It had been a while since I had seriously considered the Tin-Foil Hat Jutsu. I had been busy putting the finishing touches on my Rasengan and trying to figure out a simple kawarimi, along with all of Ebisu's training. I had first considered the idea of a chakra shield as a counter to the Gentle Fist long, long ago but I wasn't going to mention that part right now.

"Okay, I was just curious, Kurenai-sama. Ebisu-sensei, are we done for today?" I asked.

"I suppose so. I'll take Kurenai-san to the hospital just to be sure she's fine. We'll see you tomorrow."

"I will see you tomorrow, then. Good-bye." The last thing I saw before I turned to leave was Kurenai's face visibly blanching as she likely caught sight of my shadow writhing maliciously behind me. I hoped I had made a good impression.

* * *

The next morning, I waited for Ebisu at our usual training ground. Leaning against a tree, I thought back to the day before.  _"Isn't Kurenai a genjutsu expert? Why did my genjutsu bother her so much? I thought it was kind of a cliché illusion, personally."_

Ebisu and Kurenai arrived shortly. I looked at Kurenai. And then I turned to look at Ebisu. I should have greeted them properly, but instead I asked, "Why are you standing so far apart?"

The two adults instantly blurted out "No reason." Ebisu pushed up his glasses while trying to nonchalantly shuffle closer to Kurenai. At the same time, Kurenai flashed to my side, incidentally leaving the total distance between them exactly the same.

The female jounin asked me, "Haru-chan, how long have you been using genjutsu?"

"I don't know." I looked down at the ground, not that Kurenai could see under my hood. "I think the first time was around when I was two years old. I don't really know what the illusion was."

"Wow, that's very early for someone to be casting genjutsu," Kurenai remarked calmly. I glanced at Ebisu who was less adept at hiding his surprise. Kurenai continued, "Is it very hard for you to cast genjutsu?"

"Not really. Not anymore." I adjusted the illusion set on my shadow to flare and grow, visibly surrounding me to demonstrate what I was about to say. "Most people don't realize they're under a genjutsu when the illusion is indistinguishable from what they would experience in reality. I usually try to keep a genjutsu set on my person constantly, even when I'm asleep. Usually I maintain an illusion that makes my shadow seem darker and occasionally move on its own. I've been working on strengthening it over the past few years." With that, I had my shadow return to normal.

Ebisu's jaw was nearly touching the floor.

"I assumed you already knew about my constant genjutsu, Ebisu-sensei."

The special jounin quickly regained his composure, shoving his glasses up furiously and mumbling, "Of course, of course."

"I have one last question, Haru-chan." Kurenai leaned forward to inspect me as she asked, "Why do you wear such weird clothing?"

I pulled back my hood reluctantly, letting my hair fall out over my shoulders. "It's because everyone always thinks..."

"You're so cute, Haru-chan!" Kurenai immediately had me in an A-rank glomp. "Ebisu! Why didn't you tell me you had such an adorable student?! Oh, my, Haru-chan, you'll have to fight the boys off with a stick when you're older!"

"Ebisu-sensei...help...me..."  _"Can't...breathe..."_

* * *

When I woke up, I was on the ground in the shade of a tree. I kept my eyes closed, listening to the two adults talk to each other.

"Haru is a strange child. That is certain. He has such prodigious chakra control but his actual ninjutsu is abysmal. He's starting to become proficient at taijutsu, but I can only imagine what he would have been capable of with proper instruction from a young age, if only he hadn't had to teach himself."

"And that genjutsu of his."

"I'm sure you noticed the lack of hand seals. There's no medium, no warning whatsoever. It's nearly instantaneous. And that hypothetical defense he mentioned earlier. I would never have imagined such a thing, must less considered developing such a defense against genjutsu. He's never brought it up before. Is it even possible, Kurenai?"

"I honestly cannot say. It's unheard of. But it makes so much sense."

" _Is my genjutsu really that strong?"_

"Frankly, it's baffling. The Hokage wanted me to teach him the Shadow Clone Technique but Haru can't even properly accomplish an ordinary Clone Technique. He can't even manage a simple Transformation Technique but he's managed to nearly recreate one of the Fourth's personal ninjutsu, apparently just from hearing stories about it. And that was before I taught him to properly mold his chakra." I could totally imagine Ebisu pushing up his glasses with pride at that last part.

"It was unlike any genjutsu I've ever seen before. I'm embarrassed to say that Haru could probably teach me a thing or two."

"Well, it's never too late to improve oneself."

"That's mean, Ebi-san! I come to help with your student and this is how you treat me?"

"Don't be like that, Kurenai. Now isn't the time for this." Ebisu paused. "Haru, hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

" _Busted."_  I sat up. "Kurenai-sama, Ebisu-sensei, I know that my genjutsu is potent but genjutsu is like a riddle. It is useless against someone who has the answer to it. That is why I still have to become stronger. So I can defeat those who are immune to genjutsu," I said, knowing what the Sharingan was capable of. "So, Ebisu-sensei, don't tell me you're going to skip my lesson again today so you can take Kurenai-sama on another date."

I was going to get hell for it later, but watching the two adults simultaneously stammer out "It's not like that!" was completely worth it.  _"Of course not. Ebisu and Kurenai? As if that could ever happen."_


	20. Chapter 20

For my last training session with Ebisu, we left the training grounds and walked into the commercial district of Konoha.

As we walked, Ebisu handed me a scroll. "You're still not ready for this, but one day you will be. This scroll contains the hand seals and theory for the Shadow Clone Jutsu. But I forbid you from attempting it until you master the three basic academy jutsu. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Ebisu-sensei. Thank you," I said, pausing momentarily to accept the scroll with a bow.

"Now, now, I'm not your sensei anymore. After all, you start the academy tomorrow and I get to meet my new student. But I'm sure that if you work hard, you will learn things at the academy that I'd never be able to teach you by myself. Now, are you ready for your final lesson?"

"Yes, Ebisu-sensei."

"No matter what, I want you to remember this, even if you forget everything else I've ever taught you," Ebisu said seriously.

"Ebisu-sensei?"

"You're so serious, Haru. You've got to learn how to make friends. I know you've worked hard your whole life by yourself, but you will never be a truly great ninja until you learn how to trust your comrades. And remember this, Haru, a ninja's life is not measured by how many people he defeats, but rather, by the people he protects."

"Yes, Ebisu-sensei."

"Just so you don't forget, I've brought you here. I heard from this gentleman that you like ramen. Isn't that right, Teuchi-san?" he said as we entered through a familiar curtain.

"Oy, Haru-chan. It's been a while! Let me guess, large miso with extra pork, right?" yelled Teuchi from behind the counter.

I sat down on the stool next to my teacher. "Thank you...Ebisu-sensei. For everything."

* * *

I was feeling particularly cheerful on the first day of the Academy. The April weather was perfect. Ebisu had pitched in some ryo as a birthday present, meaning I was sporting a shiny new Black Coat. I thought it was perfect. Everything from the length, the spacious hood, and ridiculous zipper was exactly how I had remembered it. And in the future, now that the design had been set, it would be very cheap to repair or replace. Gotta love a ninja market that catered to people who wore the same clothes every day. The fact that the only shoes in the whole village were open-toed sandals only slightly detracted from the look.

" _Ebisu-sensei can be a pretty good guy sometimes."_  I started to miss the pervert a little as I approached the Academy gates. He'd even taken care of my paperwork for me.  _"Maybe I shouldn't have teased him about Kurenai so much."_  It was probably wrong of me to ask them when I'd be getting a baby brother. Or baby sister. Or if Ebisu needed a best man. Or if I should knock out Kurenai so Ebisu could carry her again. That had been an excellent week, both for my enjoyment and genjutsu theory.

But honestly, Ebisu-sensei had taught me so many little things about how to be a better ninja that I don't know how I could ever have managed trying to enter the academy without him. I would forever be grateful for his instruction.

I watched the strangely familiar faces of the other students as they arrived in the Academy courtyard. All I could think about was how young they all looked.  _"Have I really been here six years?"_  I felt so old, like I should have been among the proud parents sending their kids off to become ninja.

I approached a table where multiple chunin were handing out orientation packets. The line moved quickly and soon I was standing in front of a haggard ninja who asked for my name and year without bothering to look up.

"Haru, first year."

The ninja scanned a clipboard and checked off my name, presumably. He gave me a strange look as he handed me my packet, double-checking his list and letting the issue go with a wordless shrug.  _"I guess my clothes are weird even by ninja standards."_

I took a moment to examine my schedule. It was book-learning in the morning and physical activity in the afternoon. Afterward, girls would stay for kunoichi classes. Simple enough. I studied the extremely simple map of the academy to find my classroom.

Inside the spacious Academy classroom, I wasn't surprised by what I saw, although everyone was wearing different clothes than I had associated with each person. Ino was already getting chummy with the largest group of girls in the class. I could see Kiba talking to Shikamaru and Chouji. I found a seat in the back next to the laid-back Shino.

"Hello. My name is Haru." I figured I might as well say something.

Shino Aburame turned his head to look at the source of the quiet voice that had spoken to him. He paused, looking at me through his sunglasses, before he said quietly, "Shino. Nice to meet you."

Both of us turned forward in our coats to wait for something to break the awkward silence.

It wasn't long before most of the seats had been filled and I watched two chunin-vested ninja walk into the classroom. Brown-haired Iruka and white-haired Mizuki stood together at the front of the class.

Iruka announced over the din of children's voices, "Attention, please. Everyone have a seat. We will start with roll call and introductions. When I call your name, stand and say a few things about yourself." Iruka glanced at his clipboard. "Aburame Shino."

Everyone in the room watched the boy stand up and speak quietly, "Aburame Shino. I like winter melon the most. I dislike smelly foods." He sat down and Iruka called the next name in the alphabetical list.

I took notes on the names I didn't know from my memories, using my chakra to sear words onto the back of the orientation packet we received. The only thing I brought with me was something to eat for lunch. I was making a mental list of supplies I would need tomorrow when Iruka called, "Haru?"

I stood up. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure about my ridiculous choice in clothing anymore as everyone was looking at me. "My name is Haru. My favorite thing to eat is tuna sushi. Please take care of me," I said, my voice reverberating out from under my hood. I sat down and Iruka called on Sakura next.

" _Since when is classroom full of children more intimidating than being personally grilled by the Hokage?"_  I thought back to what Ebisu told me about making friends. It suddenly felt a way more insurmountable challenge.

Iruka had gotten down to Sasuke's name before I wondered where Naruto was sitting. In fact, I hadn't seen the blond boy anywhere.  _"Pleasant Sasuke is something I will probably never get used to."_

The littlest Uchiha had almost finished his introduction, "My least favorite foods are Natto and," before being interrupted by an orange-clad boy barging into the classroom door.

"Haha, sorry I'm late!" Naruto said loudly, scratching the back of his head. "This is the right room, isn't it? Woah, there's a lotta people for sure." It would have been perfectly standard Naruto if not for the fact that the boy was wearing a black and orange jacket, his 'Shippuden' outfit. There was no shred of blue on any of this clothing.

"Sit down," groaned Iruka as he pointed toward the rows of seats. "Anyways, Uzumaki Naruto?" Iruka called out.

"Huh? What do you want?" asked the clueless Naruto as he walked up the steps to find an empty seat. "Woah, Haru! You're here?" he said as he pointed to me as soon as he noticed me, ignoring the fact that he was shouting right in front of Shino.

"Naruto. Introduce yourself to the class," I informed him quietly.

"Eh?" Naruto turned around to see Iruka frowning and staring at him from the front of the room. I knew this would be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between the two. It took Naruto a second realize what was expected of him before launching into his introduction.

"Yosh! Before you stands the disciple of the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku! Handsome, magnificent, it is I who shall lead Konoha into a new age of prosperity! Bask in the presence of the next candidate for Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto!" He finished his introduction on the back of an over-sized, red toad, striking a particularly regal pose.

"Please, sit down, Uzumaki-kun," Iruka managed to growl through his clenched teeth.

Naruto simultaneously dismissed his summon and flipped over Shino and me to land directly in the corner chair next to me. "How was that, Haru? Pretty cool, eh? I was practicing with the old man all night. Wait, you haven't met the old man yet. He's kinda weird but he's got some good ideas sometimes."

At this point I held up a finger to my lips. "Naruto, don't interrupt everyone else. We'll talk later," I said quietly.

Naruto slumped over in his seat to watch the other students. By the time everyone had finished their introductions, Naruto was already snoring, his head buried in his arms on the desk.

* * *

At lunch, Naruto regaled me with his adventures with 'the old man'. I drank from a juice box as he described the massive fish he caught in the Land of Water, and recounted all the bandits he defeated who had tried to steal it. He helped himself to most of the meat in my bento as he told me that the fish was huge enough to feed an entire village, bandits and all.

By the end of the story, a number of kids had gathered around to listen. Kiba yelled out, "That can't be true. There ain't no fish that big." Personally, I knew Naruto was probably capable of catching such a fish, although he probably would have done it completely on accident with himself as the bait.

"What did you say? There really was a huge fish! It nearly ate me alive!" Naruto retorted, case in point.

I interrupted the squabble, "Inuzuka Kiba, correct?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Kiba spat back. Tiny Akamaru was growling at Naruto in defense of his partner.

"I'm sure you and Naruto will get along great together," I teased.

"What? Me and this idiot?" both boys said simultaneously as they pointed to each other.

* * *

As all the students headed to the sparring grounds, I reminded Naruto to bring his own lunch tomorrow.

"I got it. I got it," he mumbled. I quickly forgot about it as I contemplated being able to test my skills against someone my own age after what felt like ages.

Mizuki explained how taijutsu classes would work to the throng of children. Anyone who felt relatively experienced in taijutsu would step to the side and get their skills tested by 'Umino-sensei.' The rest of the class would get a rundown of the basics with Mizuki. Around a dozen of us split from the main group, myself included, and gathered around Iruka. It was just boys, although I could see that Sasuke had already started to get noticed, judging by the stares coming from some of the girls in Mizuki's group.

I was disappointed that we wouldn't really be doing much actual sparring until next year. I knew that Naruto felt the exact same way simply because he asked, "Why aren't we gonna fight each other?"

"Naruto! Taijutsu is a dangerous activity with a high potential for injuries. We need to be sure of your abilities before we can even consider allowing students to fight one another."

"Aw, I ain't gonna get hurt, Umino-sensei," Naruto said confidently. The rest of us stayed silent, although seeing Iruka's eye twitch made me chortle a bit inside my coat.

I think Iruka noticed because he pointed at me. "You, in the coat, come here." I stepped out of the crowd and walked next to the chunin. "Everyone will be doing this eventually so pay attention," he announced. He spoke directly to me, "Right now I will be testing your defenses. You are only to dodge or block. Under no circumstances are you to attack me." Iruka smiled in a fatherly way. "Don't worry. Just try your best, okay, Haru?"

I nodded and took a low fighting stance. I beckoned him to begin by curling my fingers.

Iruka approached slowly, testing my defenses with a series of hand strikes. It was painfully obvious he was holding back, but it was still difficult. He added a couple leg sweeps, which I dodged, and a third leg sweep which took me by surprise. I was on the floor after only a minute.

"A little slow, but surprising power. Nice job, Haru."

I rose and accepted the praise with a bow before returning to the small flock of students. Iruka then proceeded to school the rest of the students in turn. A minute was about average, although Naruto on his back after only thirty seconds when Iruka intercepted a punch Naruto had thrown reflexively. He used the moment as an opportunity to make sure we all knew the proper way to take a fall and protect our bodies, lecturing for the rest of the day.

* * *

After our first taijutsu lesson, I was about to leave the academy with Naruto and Kiba when I felt a strong hand yank on the back of my coat. I heard Iruka's stern voice behind me, "Where do you think you're going, Haru?"

I turned around and hazarded a guess, "Ramen Ichiraku?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Girls have kunoichi classes after taijutsu."

"So?" I still had no idea what Iruka was getting at.

"So get your butt over there. It's going to be starting in a few minutes."

"What? I think there's been a mistake. I'm not a girl."

Iruka checked his clipboard. "That's not what it says here. Are you saying that administration made a mistake?"

"That can't be right! Ebisu-sensei submitted the paperwork himself. Ebisu-sensei..."

I wanted to take back every nice thing I ever said about the pervert-sensei. Ebisu would pay for this. He would pay dearly. And soon.


	21. Chapter 21

"I keep telling you that there has been a mistake," I frantically told the brown haired kunoichi dragging me by my arm into a classroom filled with girls. "Please, don't do this to me," I finally resorted to begging. Casual misunderstandings were one thing. But I was desperate not to spend the next six years at the academy being called a pervert by every single student in the building just because Ebisu thought it would be funny. I could see my short life flashing before my eyes as she slammed open the door and shoved me in.

The stern woman finally snapped at me, "I don't care if you're the Fourth Hokage himself. You're on attendance, which means you have to be in class. If you have a problem with it, go fix it later with Administration. Until then, if I find out that you've been cutting class I will hunt you down and give you enough detention to last until you graduate. Understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am," I said as she slammed the door shut behind her, sealing my fate.

"Hello, Haru-chan! I'm so glad you finally decided to join us." That voice. It was so familiar. I spun around to see Yuhi Kurenai standing in front of a blackboard that read 'Kunoichi Lessons.'

"You! You did this?" I asked, pointing at the woman.

"Maybe you shouldn't have sent those fake wedding invitations to the entire Sarutobi clan," Kurenai suggested. Her blood-red eyes made her hysterical grin even more frightening.

I dropped to my knees. "Please, have mercy."

The jounin looked at me for a moment before coldly ordering, "Have a seat, kid."

By then, the entire classroom was watching the exchange between Kurenai and myself.  _"That's it. My life is over."_  I trudged over to the nearest empty seat, which happened to be in the middle of a throng of curious girls.

As soon as I sat down, Kurenai spoke to the class, "Now that everyone is finally here, we can begin. Welcome to kunoichi lessons. I'll be your teacher this year." She wrote her name on the blackboard behind her. "Kurenai Yuhi. But please call me Kurenai-sensei. The topics we will focus on this year include ikebana, ceremonials, and basic medical skills. Most of what you will learn here is formally categorized as 'subterfuge and support', which is also technically the name of this class.

"Historically, this class has been a mandatory class for any ninja who didn't need the time for training in their clan's secret techniques. In practice, however, nearly every clan would withdraw their male children, for some reason or another, and now these skills are typically associated with female ninja. Thus, it became customary to refer to this class as kunoichi studies and simply release the male students automatically.

Kurenai continued her lecture, writing down key words on the blackboard to illustrate her lesson, "It is customary to assign one kunoichi to each 3-man genin squad. The theory is that as a ninja trained in several support skills, you will supplement the direct combat skills of your male teammates who will have natural advantages in reach and strength when they are older. They provide you with protection and you take care of the more delicate mission objectives. In all honesty, for most of your missions it will be irrelevant whether you are male or female. Usually it will only matter when non-ninja are involved, which is why much of what you will learn here is geared toward societal interactions. Can anyone tell me why we study ikebana, the art of flower arrangement?"

Kurenai called on a blonde in the front row who was raising her hand.

"Flower arrangements can have hidden meanings that can be used as a form of communication," the girl said cheerfully.

"Wonderful. As expected from the Yamanaka heir. Can anyone tell me why we study ceremonial procedures?" Kurenai continued with her lecture.

* * *

"Alright, that's all for today. I'll see you all tomorrow, except for you, Haru-chan. I want to talk to you so don't leave," announced Kurenai after a couple hours of genuinely interesting lecture. Literally every fledgling kunoichi looked at me sitting in my seat as they filtered down the stairs and left the room, most of them saying goodbye to Kurenai. If they didn't know before, everyone certainly knew now that the person in the pure black hooded coat was named Haru. I stayed in my seat and tried to be stoic.

When the room was empty, I spoke, "Kurenai-sama?"

"Don't you 'Kurenai-sama' me, you brat." She sighed and tossed a scroll at me, which I caught. "It won't work. A personal barrier that conforms to and travels with the user would require too much chakra to be useful, even if you attenuated it to only block yin release techniques. It might be manageable if it were stationary but there no way you can get a strong enough barrier that can do everything you want it to. Not to mention the number of hand seals would be ridiculous. That scroll is a copy of my notes."

"What about the signal encoding technique I talked about?" I walked down to a closer seat to talk to the fellow genjutsu user.

Kurenai glared at me. I couldn't tell if she was still upset with me or not. She put her hands on her hips and said, "That one might actually work. I'm still trying to figure out the hand seals and chakra moldings for that one. You realize that if it works, I might have to pick a new speciality." She smirked.

"Don't forget to consider fuinjutsu. And even though it sounds like a good way to secure yourself against mental tampering, someone who understands how a security measure works can always find a way to circumvent it."

"Still, encoding your thoughts and perception of reality to prevent unknowingly falling under a genjutsu? Maintaining decoy levels of consciousness to trap intruders? Compartmentalized consciousnesses that actively counter genjutsu? If any of your ideas work, you might completely revolutionize genjutsu. How do you come up with it all?"

I couldn't say  _"It's basic computer security."_  I could neither explain the concept of computer networking nor really how I knew anything about it.  _"Did I work with computers before? I don't feel like I'm an expert in computers."_  I was also good at gardening, math, and cooking among other things. But I wasn't an expert in those things either.

"It just comes to me," I admitted with a shrug.

Kurenai had spent a week with me and Ebisu before the academy, teaching me about genjutsu. Although she had underestimated the strength of my genjutsu the first time we met, she could do things with genjutsu that I hadn't ever considered. Ebisu had introduced her to me simply to teach me how to break out of genjutsu, but I wasn't going to let such a prime resource slip out of my grasp. I had constantly peppered her with years of stored up questions about how to counter genjutsu.

In my mind, genjutsu was like hacking into a computer with viruses and security exploits. You could certainly restart your chakra system to clear the intrusion, but by that point the damage would already be done. That was unacceptable to me. Especially since the Sharingan and Byakugan could already filter out foreign chakra.

According to Kurenai, genjutsu warfare was essentially hoping you got the first shot off and that it was enough to take down the other guy. There was so little in terms of defense other than simply breaking out quickly. Anti-genjutsu was a passion of mine simply because it meant I was bringing the Sharingan down even one notch lower.

"How did you like kunoichi studies, Haru-chan?" Kurenai asked with a wicked smile on her face.

" _It was surprisingly interesting."_

"Am I really going to have to come every day?" I asked.

"Don't be like that, Haru-chan!" Kurenai cooed in a motherly way. "There hasn't been a boy in Subterfuge and Support for generations. This is for your own good anyways. You should thank me for putting you in a room full of beautiful females! You're going to be so popular!"

"Or dead," I accidentally said aloud.

"Hey, Haru-chan, have some faith. You're always so gloomy. Trust me, sometimes things turn out okay. Just try to have fun and make some friends," the woman said with a smile.

"Okay, Kurenai-sensei."


	22. Chapter 22

I woke up in a cold sweat. Hacking my lungs out, I reached for a water bottle on my bedside table. It was rare for me to dream, much less have nightmares. I had dreamt that I was fighting Orochimaru in the middle of Konoha, as if I were the Third Hokage at the end of the chunin exams. He raised two coffins out of the ground and inside were my parents. He told me that he would bring them back to life but I had to give up something he wanted. And then Nodoka and Seishirou attacked me. I remembered having a sword in my right hand, fending off Seishirou's kenjutsu, and having a staff in my left hand, warding off fire ninjutsu. All I could remember after that was that I had to kill Orochimaru. He had to die or something terrible was going to happen.

" _Fucking dreams. Weird dreams are never a good thing."_  I rubbed my eyes in the dark, trying to see the time on my alarm clock.  _"Four more hours until I need to be up."_  I fell backward into my bed and sighed deeply.

I spent over an hour trying to figure out a counter to the Impure World Reincarnation before I managed to fall asleep again.

* * *

I woke in my bed, the first light of day filtering through my window curtains and landing on my face. A quick check told me that my alarm clock was about to ring in about two minutes.  _"Obviously the best way start the day,"_ I thought sarcastically.

I sat up and started to put on my clothes, silently wishing to myself that someone in this world would invent a proper dress shirt and slacks and shoes. My eccentric black coat was literally the closest thing I could find to 'Western' clothing, and that was because I had it custom made. I slipped my arms and ankles through sets of sealed training weights, making sure I had the right combinations for that week. Then, I put on a strangely generic black shirt and black pants that were baggy enough not to get caught on the weights. I tied down the ends of the pants to my ankles with straps of fabric that could be used as bandages in a pinch. And then I collected my coat from its place on the wall, feeling its familiar weight despite the several dozen extra pounds weighing down my body. As soon as I was finished, I touched my alarm clock, stopping the alarm just as it went off.

I fixed myself an extra-large bento in case Naruto forgot to bring lunch again. I scooped cold rice out of the cooker, casually eating out of my lunch as I added egg and meat and vegetable to it. When I finished packing lunch, I secured the lid with built in plastic clamps and stuffed it into an insulated part of my unassuming, square-ish black school bag. I checked myself in the mirror before I left, zipping up my coat and scowling at the sight of my face until I put my hood on.

Outside, I locked the door to my apartment and began to focus my physical energies. I exhaled and then launched myself to the roof of a neighboring building, skipping the stairs that only led to the ground. It was a short gauntlet to reach the Academy, stepping on the side of chimneys and running across the back of billboards. I was not the only person who took such a route as part of their morning routine, judging by the many headbands I saw every morning.

At the Academy, I quietly proceeded to the classroom. Being one of the first few people there, I chose a seat at random and hoped Shino wouldn't be offended. I thought about the practicality of an anti-chakra field and wondered whether I should experiment with chakra suppression. It wasn't like I was a baby with no stamina anymore. I hadn't been paying attention to who was entering the classroom when someone tapped on my shoulder and spoke.

"You're in my seat." It was Kiba.

"I'm sorry, Inuzuka-san." I moved to the next seat over. The spiky-haired boy seemed dissatisfied with my response as he sat on the table and tried to peer into my hood.

"I don't get it. How come Naruto likes you so much? You ditched us yesterday and then he spends the whole time talking about how great you are. What's your story, Mr. Creepy? You got some kinda weird deformity under that hood of yours?" asked Kiba suspiciously.

"Naruto is an old friend of mine. And I'm going to tell you now. Don't touch my coat." I was still in a bad mood from that nightmare I had. Realizing that I'd probably have to study a lot of traditional fuinjutsu to deal with Orochimaru had turned my mood sour before the day had even begun. Also, I honestly wished I could have gone to Ichiraku's with them yesterday but Kurenai had put an end to that plan by sticking me in a room full of girls.

"Nah, I won't do anything," Kiba assured me. But before I could tell him I was sorry about missing him and Naruto yesterday, I felt my hood being pulled back by a puppy-sized Akamaru. Time froze for a moment as Kiba's face shifted in slow motion from mischievousness to surprise. I could already feel my eye twitching even before Kiba stammered out, "You...you're...are you?"

In a panicked rage, I stared into Kiba's eyes. He would see tendrils from my shadow grab ahold of his limbs and slowly drag him into a sea of darkness to drown horribly. It only took me approximately three seconds to realize how childish I was being, releasing him from the illusion as soon as I realized what I had done. It was completely inappropriate and I felt shame as I replaced my hood.

I stood up and went back to the seat I had chosen the day before. Kiba just sat there shocked as Akamaru tugged at this clothes to try to snap him out of it.

* * *

At lunch, Naruto had forgotten to bring lunch again. I felt like an enabler but shared half my bento with him just like yesterday, listening to him talk about a princess he had met in Land of Tea. Kiba was among the small crowd of students who listened to Naruto's story. He hadn't said anything to me all day since the incident.

Naruto had just explained how the princess was working at a tea-house, on the run from her evil uncle who wanted her to fulfill an arranged marriage, when Kiba said the dumbest and most ruinous thing he could have possibly said.

"Are you Naruto's girlfriend?" Kiba asked me, oblivious to the fact that we were surrounded by gossipy students. He didn't have a malicious look on his face. He was simply curious.

Naruto and I both were awestruck at the random question, although you couldn't tell my jaw had dropped under my hood.

"What are you talking about, Kiba?" Naruto asked, not comprehending the question Kiba had asked me.

The red-cheeked boy counted his lines of reasoning on his fingers. "Well, she brings you food every day, and she said that she's known you for a long time, and she's really pretty."

"She? Are you talking about Haru? Haru is a guy!" Naruto said correctly.

I just sat on a low cement wall, completely frozen from having underestimated how absurd the universe could be.

* * *

By the time taijutsu rolled around, I was confident I had cleared things with up with the improbably dense Kiba Inuzuka. 'No, I'm not Naruto's girlfriend. I'm actually a guy. Naruto and I grew up in the same orphanage and that's why we're old friends. Naruto eats my lunch because he's too unorganized to pack his own lunch, despite me reminding him before the end of school. No, I will not 'prove' anything to you. And the reason why I hide my face is complicated.'

However, it took so long to get all that through Kiba's skull that by the end of taijutsu, girls were already asking me about 'my boyfriend' as we ran laps around the Academy. I sincerely hoped the entire day was simply another nightmare and that I would wake up and be late to the Academy and that I could avoid speaking to Kiba forever.

* * *

"Congratulations, Haru-chan! Did Naruto get you a nice ring? Have you already decided on a date for the wedding? Oh, my, I have absolutely nothing to wear! Would you like to go look at dresses with me after kunoichi studies, Haru-chan?" Kurenai looked like a cat that had just eaten the mouse and the entire mouse family in one sitting.

"Just kill me now, Kurenai-sensei."

"Now, now, look on the bright side. I just won 100 ryo from Ebisu. He thought you'd make it at least a week before the entire school mistook you for a girl." I thought only Tsunade was capable of the devious look occupying Kurenai's face at the moment.

"Do you know any genjutsu that can make an entire Academy lose a day's worth of memories?" I asked facetiously.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't give up this moment for anything. Now, quiet. The rest of the students are coming."

* * *

Today's kunoichi lesson was the identification of common plants and flowers in the immediate area. Kurenai shuffled the entire platoon of girls, myself apparently included, outside to a field that was a short walk from the academy. She took a while to describe the characteristics and useful properties of various plants that she pulled from a hip pouch. And then she told us to find samples of the plants she had shown us.

I actually knew most of the plants from my days at Yamanaka Flowers. I hadn't collected plants in the wild but they should have been common enough. I left in search of the fauna, tired of hearing whispered comments like "She's so weird," and "Did you hear about her and that weird Uzumaki Naruto kid?"

I was collecting some samples of  _athelas_  flowers when a few particularly repugnant girls surrounded me in a triangle formation.

"Do you have no shame?" asked a purple-haired girl.

I simply shrugged, tucking away the plant samples I collected into a glass bottle that I pocketed.

The girl continued her futile attempts at making fun of me, "What's with those stupid clothes? Who wears all black? It's so creepy."

I stood up and faced the girl who did most of the talking. If she insisted on provoking me, she should at least have the courage to speak to me directly. I waited for her to speak, but instead her sidekick with the brown afro said, "Let her have it, Ami!"

I continued to do my best Grim Reaper impersonation as I waited for this 'Ami' to talk. I had spent half the day regretting my immature outburst at Kiba, who I couldn't expect to be anything but a child, unlike myself. I'd just wait and peacefully deflect whatever the girl decided to do. But eventually she averted her gaze, clenching her fists and muttering "Naruto's too good for you. He deserves someone better."

" _Naruto? Not Sasuke? Naruto has fangirls? What?"_  I was flabbergasted once again on this ridiculous day.

The other sidekick, with spiky brownish-red hair, chimed in softly, "You can do it. For Naruto's sake."

Before the leader of the trio could come with another lackluster putdown, a pair of small hands landed on my shoulders. Whoever had come in behind me said, "I think Naruto needs saving from you three more than anything."

"This doesn't concern you, Yamanaka," Ami snapped.

"Nor does it concern you, unless there's a consolation prize for last place," Ino said with a smirk, talking over my shoulder like a quick-witted parrot.

"We can't let Naruto-sempai fall into the hands of Creepy here!" yelled the leader girl, pointing at me. I felt a smidge miffed at this point.

"I'm sure that under that hood she's a completely normal girl! Isn't that right?" Ino asked me, her genial demeanor wavering when she realized she didn't know what was under my hood.

I finally resigned myself to fate and pulled back my hood, smiling weakly now that I was completely devoid of hope and subsisting completely on catharsis. I felt all three girls staring at me for a long moment.

"Woah! We've been completely defeated! Girls, fall back!" ordered the purple-haired Ami. "Don't think we'll forget this! We'll save Naruto one day!" shouted the nearly-crying girl as the trio ran off into the distance.

"Yamanaka-san, you didn't know I was a guy?" I asked Ino, looking over my shouder at the blonde.

"What did you say? Wait, do I know you? You look kind of familiar," Ino said, walking around to stand in front of me, her eyes squinting as she tried to recognize me.

"Yamanaka-san, it's been a long time. Is your father well?" I asked, smiling. I hadn't seen Ino in about two years. "You sure have changed. I'm glad to see you've finally found some confidence. It wasn't that long ago when you would hide behind the counter whenever there was a stranger in the store." It really was pleasant to see her again after so long.

"Eh?! Haru-sempai?!" Ino exclaimed. I was glad that Ino had remembered me, but maybe I shouldn't have brought up embarrassing memories, judging by how much Ino was blushing.

" _Maybe kunoichi studies wouldn't be so bad if I had a friend to take the class with?"_


	23. Chapter 23

"Haru-sempai? Why are you taking kunoichi lessons if you're a boy? I thought boys didn't have to attend kunoichi lessons," Ino asked me as we talked away the rest of the period. We occasionally stopped to pick up a sample of flora to fulfill the assignment Kurenai had given the class, but it was easy if you had worked in a flower shop for a couple years as we both had done. "This is the last place I ever imagined that I would see you again."

"Well, I've been working with Kurenai-sensei on a project and I did something to make her angry. This is her way of getting back at me. She probably thought it would be a good idea to stick me in this class to keep an eye on me," I said nonchalantly. It was weird to be walking around with my hood off. If I were talking to anyone else, I would have put it back on, but Ino had already seen my face so much in the past that I wasn't concerned about it.

"Yeah, but why are you in the class? Aren't you too old for this?" Ino asked as her brow furrowed. "How old are you?" she asked apprehensively.

I craned my neck in thought. "Well, I just had my sixth birthday last week, according to my birth certificate," I said. That had been a difficult sentence to come up with. I never enjoyed lying to people. I much preferred half-truths and lies of omission. And it's not like I knew how old I really was.

Ino took a moment, presumably to compare birthdays in her head. I think hers was around Naruto's birthday. After a second, her jaw dropped and a pallor claimed her face.

"Are you okay, Yamanaka-san?" Ino really didn't look well.

Suddenly, she gripped me by the arms and asked me anxiously, "That was your sixth birthday party so you're seven years old, right?"

"What? No. I turned six just before the start of the Academy term, a few days before the cutoff. Why do you ask?"

Ino sunk to her knees, still gripping my sleeves for support. She had a faraway look in her pale blue eyes that didn't seem right on her. Why was what I said so shocking?

"Yamanaka-san?" I called her name again.

"I'm okay," she replied meekly. "I just thought that when you stopped working at the flower shop, you had joined the academy."

"Nah, I had a teacher for the last couple years that helped me work out some kinks in my ninjutsu. And they put me up in student housing so that I didn't need a job anymore."

Ino was still sitting on her knees in the grass, but seemed to have calmed down. She looked me up and down before asking "Why did you change your clothes?"

"What? This is the same coat I always wear," I answered while shrugging.

"But you looked so nice before. You were so noble-looking."

"Oh. That was a long time ago. That outfit was just for work." It had been a while since I last wore the Kenshin outfit.

"That coat you have on now is kind of really creepy when I can't see your face," Ino complained.

" _Well, I'm sorry I can't stand the sight of my own face."_

"I like my coat, Yamanaka-san," I whined playfully. I sat down next to Ino in the grass and scanned the horizon for the pink-haired girl I had seemingly replaced.  _"That was how Ino and Sakura met. Ino saved her from those bullies."_  But Sakura was nowhere in sight.

"I guess 'Haru-kun' would be better," Ino mumbled to herself as she sat next to me.

"I don't mind if you call me Haru. We're in the same class after all," I said, overhearing.

"Then you should call me Ino. None of this 'Yamanaka-san' stuff," she insisted.

"Alright, Ino-chan. Or should I say Ino-sempai? Aren't you like, four or five months older than me?" I calculated on my fingers as I spoke, half-teasing. Ino started coughing violently. "Hey, hey, are you okay, Ino?

* * *

"Oy, Haru!" Naruto yelled to me as he ran me down just outside the Academy. "Woah, how come you aren't wearing your hood today?"

Indeed, my red hair trailed down my shoulders because I had my hood pulled back. "I just don't want people to get any more wrong impressions. The first step for that is not hiding my face anymore." I said with a deep sigh, feeling exposed and tired. To me, it felt like trading one mask for another that was more insidious and life-like.

"Huh, okay," Naruto accepted casually. His stomach grumbled loudly. "Hey, Haru, what did you bring for lunch today?"


	24. Chapter 24

Iruka was a fine teacher. The only problem was that between Ebisu and my own memories, his class was excruciatingly boring. The only time I had to pay attention was when he said something about the village, the history of the world, or specific ninja procedure. Otherwise, I would spend the entire morning period planning and thinking.

If I was correct, there was a year until the Uchihas would be wiped out. Six and a half years until Orochimaru. Nine years until Akatsuki started collecting biiju. To be honest, I had no idea whether I should do anything about the Uchiha problem. If I left things alone, Sasuke would be more predictable, the Sharingan would become a rarity, and Itachi would start spying on Akatsuki.

For as much as I hated the Sharingan and the thought of Danzo having ten of them, it didn't sit right with me at all to let Sasuke suffer. I didn't know if it was guilt that I knew what was going to happen or anger at my own helplessness. There was nothing I could possibly say or do to make anyone believe me. After all, I had no explanations or proof. If I ever said anything, it would just raise endless questions that I would never be able to answer. The only thing I could do was to smile and pretend that I knew nothing.

Even if I decided to do something, I had no idea how to stop the Uchiha massacre from happening. I had a prodigious amount of knowledge on the world of Naruto that I rehearsed endlessly into my memory when I was a baby. But knowing that Madara Uchiha's favorite food is inarizushi didn't mean I knew how to beat him. Likewise, as much as the thought of someone losing everything they ever loved bothered me on a profound and personal level, I just didn't know what to do.

I spent the class drawing transmutation circles in my notebook, etching lines and words into paper with a fingertip of chakra. The one I was currently etching into paper was a double walled circle circumscribing a pentagram. Between the two circumferences of the circle, I had written in English, "Cast in the name of God, Ye not guilty."

The five points of the pentagram, along with the two circles for yin and yang, represented the seven main nature transformations of chakra. I figured that the pentagram would act as a container for my chakra, a power source for my 'seal.' The words would represent my will, the intention necessary to direct the effect. I had just chosen the words on a whim this time, however.

Iruka was still talking about the basics of chakra theory. If something went wrong, I figured he could step in to fix the mess and I could just pass it off as the 'foolish experiments of a precocious child.' Ebisu had tried to teach me the basics of fuinjutsu but I still believed in my own theory, that all you really needed to affect reality was a sufficient will and strength of spirit. That made far more sense to me than the cryptic explanations of the books I had read in the Konoha library long ago because it was the one thing that tied all the various theories and concepts together.

I assumed that when I sunk chakra into the pentagram, it would simply circulate within the lines without causing an effect. Just in case I was unknowingly inventing a new form of explosive tag, I used a chakra thread to conduct a trickle of chakra into the center of my design.

I was not prepared for the blinding light that streamed from my notebook. It made no sound. As I shielded my eyes, the only sounds were Iruka's surprised stuttering and chairs scraping against the floor. It was only a couple seconds before the light suddenly ceased, like a light switch had been flipped off. But it was more than enough to get the attention of the entire classroom.

"Haru! Detention!" Iruka yelled in a deafening voice, his head seemingly exaggerated to a monstrous size.

I looked down at my notebook. It was undamaged except for the single page that was missing, as if it had been torn out. I spent the rest of the period unsuccessfully trying to find where the seal had gone.

* * *

Naruto was gleefully devouring hotdog octopuses as he asked me, "So what did you do in class earlier?"

I reached for a hotdog octopus with my chopsticks. I figured I was entitled to my own food. "I told you to bring your own lunch, Naruto."

"But you're so good at cooking, Haru!" Naruto said with his mouth full. He clicked his chopsticks together and smiled at me. "Now spill. What were you doing in class? Some new technique? You can tell me, Haru."

I swallowed some rice. "There are some things that should never be trifled with. All dreams must end eventually."

"Huh?" Naruto looked utterly confused, as if I had just tried to explain a new technique to him.

"I'm trying to develop a counter to a certain technique," I offered with a shrug, wolfing down more of my own lunch. Not that I was worried about competing with Naruto. I had prepared a double bento for a reason.

"What technique?" Naruto asked innocently.

" _Impure World Reincarnation."_  I obviously couldn't say that aloud. Instead, I told Naruto, "It's a really evil one. And completely unfair. If I ever figure out the counter, I'll tell you what it is so you can fight it, okay?"

"Thanks, Haru! There was something else I wanted to ask you too. I was traveling with the old man for a while, you know, and he told me..."

Before Naruto could get any further, Kiba ran up to us. "Hey, you two. There's gotta be a gazillion girls looking for Naruto down there. And not fair! You started eating before I got here!"

I lowered my chopsticks. "There is still plenty of time left for lunch, Inuzuka-san." It had taken me a couple tries that morning to get it through Kiba's brain that I was a guy, but he had mostly accepted it.

"I still don't see why we gotta eat so far away from the academy," Naruto complained.

"Trust me. It's better this way." The view from the top of Hokage Monument was really nice. "By the way, Naruto, where are you staying? I'll find you after school if I have time."

"Your 'special lessons?'" Naruto asked.

"No. I got detention earlier, remember?"

"Haha, too bad," Naruto exclaimed sympathetically.

Kiba took that moment to ask, "Haru, what was that light during class?"

"Secret ninja techniques," I stated plainly, not wanting to go into it again. "By the way, Kiba, where is the Inuzuka compound? Naruto, give me your address. That way I can at least look for you guys when I get out of detention. Here's where I live..."

* * *

After kunoichi lessons, I stayed behind in the classroom to wait for Iruka. Ino had also been curious what I had been doing during class earlier that day. "Sloppy fuinjutsu," was my answer. Kurenai had seemed amused when I admitted I was staying behind for detention. It hadn't surprised her at all.

After about ten minutes of waiting alone, Iruka walked into the nearly empty classroom. He walked into the student rows and sat in the chair next to mine. I knew in the back of my mind that I was not going to enjoy the following conversation. The situation felt far too familiar, inducing an unsettling déjà vu in addition to the generalized dread of having 'a talk' with your teacher.

"I'll have you know that I don't actually like assigning detention. Do you know why you're here?" he asked in a stern, fatherly voice.

"Because I was disrupting class?" I offered, unsure of what he wanted to hear.

"That's part of it, Haru-kun. How about you tell me what you were doing?"

I exhaled, considering my answer. "I was experimenting with fuinjutsu."

Iruka Umino raised an eyebrow. "I think you should show me."

I pulled my notebook out of my coat. With my finger, I traced a circle on the paper with chakra. Around that circle, I etched another slightly larger circle. On the inside, I placed my fingers around the edge of the circle to estimate where the corners of the pentagram would be, and then connected those points with a scorching pinprick of chakra. And then carefully, I wrote again the words in English, rotating the notebook as I wrote.

And then I slid it over to Iruka, explaining what the lines meant. "The pentagram represents the five nature transformations of chakra. The two circles are yin and yang chakra. The design between the two circles is essentially meaningless. I didn't think it would do anything except store a tiny bit of my chakra, like an unused battery. When I applied some of my chakra, it emitted light, as you saw earlier, and just disappeared." I shrugged. I specifically did not mention that I had been trying to create a customized, flexible basis for an entire new school of fuinjutsu that I only guessed was possible because it was just vague enough to work.

"Did Ebisu teach you how to do this?" Iruka asked. I wasn't aware he knew I had trained with Ebisu-sensei until now.

"He taught me some of the basics of fuinjutsu. But this was just me messing around."

"Ebisu taught you how to write seals with your chakra?"

"Oh, that, no. He didn't. I..." I paused. Where had I learned how to do that? I mean, I knew Jiraiya and Orochimaru had done something like that with the Five Elements Seal. Until Iruka mentioned it, I had never thought about why I never bothered with ink. It was just natural to write with my fingertips. "That part is just habit."

Iruka scratched his head and sighed. He leaned forward and looked me close in the eyes. "Fuinjutsu is extremely dangerous." He whacked me painfully on the skull with his palm. "People who blindly experiment with dangerous techniques always end up hurt, Haru. Even though no one was hurt today, can you imagine what would happen if your 'seal' had exploded? People could have died. You could have died. Haru, I want you to promise me that you will not touch fuinjutsu without a proper sealing master to supervise you."

I quickly stipulated, "Only if you find me a fuinjutsu teacher!"

Iruka laughed dryly. "I might know someone. But you have to promise me first."

"Alright, I promise, Umino-sensei," I said, lifting my hand as if taking an oath.

"Good. Now get out of here," Iruka said. "Oh, and I'll need this." He tore out the page of my notebook with my seal on it. I had an ominous feeling about what he might do with the slip of paper he neatly folded and pocketed into his vest.

* * *

When I finally arrived home, there was a kunai embedded in my door, pinning a note with my name at eye level.  _"I guess Naruto or Kiba must have been here."_  I plucked the kunai and pocketed it. Once I was inside my door, I read the note.

" _A duel? Why would someone challenge me to a duel? Who is this courageous, shining knight whose honor I have besmirched? What?"_


	25. Chapter 25

I was sitting in a random seat before class, clutching the note from yesterday in my hands. It wasn't like the seats were assigned and I enjoyed the daily change in view. From what I could tell, the formal and archaic language of the challenge indicated that I had 'ensorcelled the virtuous knight' and I was to 'meet upon the hallowed training grounds at day's end' and 'prepare to be vanquished'. At least that's what I thought it was saying according to my dictionary.

I had planned to watch students as they entered to narrow down the list of suspects. Unfortunately, Ino was one of the first to arrive. She took the seat next to me and asked, "Hi, Haru. What have you got there?"

I was about to say "Nothing," and tuck the formal challenge away but the perky blonde girl snatched it immediately and started reading. I simply cradled my forehead in my palm and waited wordlessly.

"Is this...is it true? You're an 'evil sorcerer' who 'ensnares the minds of the pure?'" Ino held her hand in front of her mouth, but was clearly unable to contain her giggling.

I answered confidently, "Definitely. You should watch out, Ino, or else you'll be next." I wiggled my fingers menacingly for dramatic effect, but it only made Ino giggle more. I had to admit, having Ino around had made kunoichi lessons more enjoyable. I knew better than to tell her that she reminded me of Naruto, however.

I stole the note back and refolded it carefully. The paper looked like someone had carelessly torn a section of scroll but the writing had impeccable calligraphy. I slipped it into my coat. Class was about to begin.

Iruka's class was as boring as ever. I already knew the different hand seals and the general uses. I started to evaluate my progress in the various ninja arts, writing in my notebook.

Ninjutsu? Other than the Rasengan, I was probably about average with my classmates, which meant I barely knew anything. My clones and henges were pitiful. My kawarimi was coming along though. Ebisu had drilled the basics into me but he had a lot of things to cover, and I had spent most of my time elsewhere. I had a couple neat tricks I could do with chakra, but few legitimate jutsu.

My genjutsu was strong, according to Kurenai. In the brief time I had with her before the academy, she had taught me dozens of small tricks with genjutsu theory and in return I fed her ideas about information security, hoping that she could develop an anti-genjutsu. I didn't mention that I was reinforcing my chakra with spiritual energy, essentially creating a double-lock. I would basically cast the genjutsu I had developed when I was younger simultaneously with a genjutsu that used 'proper' chakra.

I was pretty happy with my taijutsu. I wasn't going to win any awards but I could probably compete with genin soon. I hadn't had a sparring partner in forever though. Maybe Naruto would be interested. It would be nice to finally test the skills I had been developing every day for the past several years.

On that note, I should consider starting kenjutsu. It would be nice to be able to defend myself against Suigetsu or something. After school, I could pick up a wooden practice sword or something.

And fuinjutsu. I didn't want to break the promise I made to Iruka. As much as I wanted to know what I had accidentally accomplished, the chunin was right about it being dangerous. I'd just have to believe Iruka would come through with a teacher.

"What are you writing?" Ino asked quietly. I suddenly realized that she had been watching the whole time. At least I had bought some pencils yesterday after my conversation with Iruka. But she pointed at some of the English I had been scribbling to myself, literally snaking her finger over my arm and touching the paper directly. "What does this mean?"

I hesitated too long in giving my answer, "I'm just taking notes on what Iruka is saying," and Ino pouted, her mouth curled to one side in clear dissatisfaction.

"Come on, Haru. You can trust me. Explain it to me! I refuse to believe that is just your bad handwriting," the girl whispered, leaning closer to peer at my notebook.

I sighed. "It's code. It really is just my notes on the lecture though," I said with the best smile I could muster.

Ino recoiled suddenly, sitting back in her seat with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. "I see." That was the last thing she said to me for the rest of class.

* * *

At lunch, our hiding spot on top of the Hokage Mounument had been found and a small mob of girls surrounded Naruto as he alternated between describing how he and 'the old man' had taken down a missing nin who was setting himself up as a crime boss in a village on the outskirts of Land of Fire and taking bites out of the bento I had brought for him. Kiba had brought Shikamaru and Chouji to the party, and together we tried to figure out where Naruto had embellished his story.

Kiba had agreed to help make it clear that I wasn't a girl. It was slow going, however. Frankly, I thought the entire situation was ludicrous. But it was too dangerous to leave the academy rumor mill to its own devices. I was eternally grateful to at least have a few people on my side. Shikamaru had known from the beginning and Chouji had simply shrugged and continued eating. Most of the Naruto fangirls were glad to have one less rival.

The class's female population was evenly split between Naruto and Sasuke. Whereas Naruto innocently reveled in the attention, Sasuke shied away, seemly unsure of what to do when surrounded by so many girls. Naruto had an innate gift for deflecting the advances of girls. He probably wasn't even aware that they were attracted to him. He seemed happy just to have friends. Sasuke was much colder when girls approached him between classes and at lunch but that just seemed to make the girls like him more. I would never understand girls.

At least the anger hadn't appeared in Sasuke's eyes yet.

* * *

At kunoichi lessons, Ino had chosen to sit elsewhere. I could see her a couple rows down, talking to a pink haired girl next to her. The girls who sat to either side of me asked me, "Are you really a guy?" I nodded and they asked me, "Why are you in kunoichi lessons?"

"Ask Kurenai," I told them.

I figured I had hurt Ino's feelings earlier. I could be dense sometimes but it was pretty obvious now that Ino thought I didn't trust her. It was true. But only because I didn't trust anyone. How could I? Ebisu said that I needed to trust my comrades but should I? God, it was so complicated.

* * *

After school, I went to the Yamanaka's flower shop for the first time in years. I hadn't changed out of my coat but it would have been excessively rude to walk into such a familiar place with my hood drawn. The store was essentially unchanged since I had worked there. Momoka Yamanaka was behind the counter that afternoon.

"Yamanaka-san, I am looking for Ino. If you see her, can you give her this letter?" I requested as I pulled out a sheet of paper that I had carefully removed from my notebook.

"Haru?" she said as she finally recognized me. "It's been so long! Ino's told me so much about you. How are things at the academy? Are you studying hard?" It had been so long since I'd heard that particular mix of sternness and gentleness.

"Things are fine, Yamanaka-san. I'm kind of busy so I would be very grateful if you'd pass this along to her."

"I normally would but I think it would be better if you gave it to her yourself," Momoka said, turning her head toward the door. Ino was standing there, a surprised look on her face. I she had not expected me to be there.

I walked up to the girl. "Ino, I hope this makes up for earlier," I said somberly. I handed her the folded sheet of notebook paper. She looked at me and took it wordlessly. On the paper, I had etched with chakra the words "I am sorry," in both English and Japanese (although they didn't call it that here.) I had written it so that it was obviously a translation of the phrase.

She narrowed her eyes and pouted, "Don't think that this makes everything better. It's a good start though."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."


	26. Chapter 26

I arrived at the training grounds. It was pretty open, with no real obstacles and few trees. Sunset was beginning, but there was still plenty of light coming over the distant treeline. In the distance, a lone figure approached from the trees.

Whereas I was wearing my ordinary black coat with my hood pulled over my head, the person walking closer was clad in layers of white robes that wrapped around his body and obscured his entire person. There was no ninja headband. A white hooded haori over the robes gave it an eerie resemblance to Jedi robes, despite the pure white color scheme. Between the white hood and a layer of cloth wraps over most of his face, the only thing I could see was his mouth. If this guy pulled out the Sword of the Thunder God, I was running for my life.

I declared with as much bravado as possible, "As the challenged party, I will now announce the terms of the duel. The winner shall maintain exclusive rights to making Naruto's lunch! Furthermore, the loser shall buy the winner a complete meal at Ramen Ichiraku!"

"I accept," whispered the cloaked figure in front of me.

" _What?"_  I had been joking about Naruto's lunch but my opponent took a combat stance, ready to fight.  _"Well, I guess we're starting."_  I reached into each of my sleeves and snapped open the latches that attached my training weights to my arms. When I straightened my wrists downward, they fell to the ground with a ground-shaking thud. I glanced at my opponent, who showed no signs of surprise. As I removed the weights on my legs with similar thuds, I wondered who I could be fighting for my intimidation attempts to fail so badly.

I took my own stance and immediately launched a genjutsu. Illusionary shadow tentacles were supposed to rise from the ground and immobilize my enemy for me to get close. Instead, the white ninja nimbly dodged my chakra, muttering "Genjutsu!" That was frighteningly unexpected. Honestly, I was the one being intimidated at this point as the white blur quickly closed the distance between us.

I raised my arm to block his initial strike but suddenly it exploded in pain.  _"Holy motherfucker!"_  I swore internally as I jumped back, putting as much distance as I could between the two of us. It literally felt like my left forearm had exploded as I felt a searing pain in my bones and flesh.  _"Is my arm broken?"_  I had no time to check as I cradled my arm gingerly to my chest, conceding ground to my opponent who followed my short backward leaps like an inescapable shadow.

"You used genjutsu on Naruto. That's how you fooled him. But that won't work on me. Please, give up. I don't want to have to hurt you anymore," said a terrifyingly gentle voice.

"Shut up. I'm not done yet!" I shouted as I pulled my hood back to increase my peripheral vision and allow access to my weapon. If this wasn't a fight between ninja, I would have felt guilty as I pulled a wooden bokuto out of my coat with my good arm. Although I had no idea how to use it properly, I could at least pretend. Any weapon was good against someone who could incapacitate me with a single blow. If I was extremely lucky, I might have some hidden sword skill from a past life or something.

"I'm sorry that it has come to this," resigned the angel of death as he closed in with a flying kick.

" _Treat the sword as an extension of my own body. Become one with the sword."_  Even though my left arm still burned with throbbing pain, I concentrated on the one thing I could remember from anime about using weapons. Somehow I managed to block the kick with my wooden sword. My foe flipped backwards off the sword and reevaluated me for a moment.

I immediately could tell I didn't have the wrist strength or the skills to pull that off again. By an adrenaline-fueled dint of luck, I had summoned enough chakra to my arm to block the kick. It hadn't been a particularly strong kick but, even with chakra enhancing flowing through my arm, I had barely managed to withstand it. It was small comfort to know that my weight training had been paying off. Thinking about chakra flows reminded me of something I hadn't considered until then.

In the momentary reprieve, I pulled down my left sleeve to check my arm. Although it felt like it had been blown to bits, visually it was fine except for a small red bruise. "Gentle fist," I surmised. "Hyuga...Hinata?"

"I can't let you corrupt Naruto any longer! You're both guys! It's wrong!" she shouted. "If I can't do at least this much for him then..." she trailed off, sprinting towards me to continue the fight.

" _Goddamnit, Kiba."_  I was going to kill him later for starting that rumor if I managed to survive this fight. It was all I could do to block Hinata's strikes with the bokuto. Without any real skills, I used the sword as a dull, makeshift kunai to block most of her hands just above the hilt. I had strength enough for that. But she was as fast as I was without my weights and she had two arms. She would wear me down quickly.

I wondered,  _"Do I really want to win this fight?"_  My own preconception of Hinata was that she was an utterly pure soul who simply needed the confidence to do what she felt was right. Ordinarily, she would get that from watching Naruto over the years. In my momentary distraction, Hinata mashed her fingers into my hand, causing me to drop my sword. She followed up with a roundhouse kick to the face that sent me flying backwards into the ground.

Full of pain and disorientation, I slowly got up. Hinata was a good person even if she did kick me in the face. I wasn't about to let her win, but if she won, it would contribute to her growth as a person.  _"If I have to play the bad guy, I might as well put some effort into it."_

"Do you really think you can defeat the Black Thunder of Konoha Academy?! I do not admit defeat! You have yet to prove to me that you are worthy of your precious knight! Prepare yourself for the end!" I shouted as I valiantly took up a fighting stance one more time.

It was unfortunate that I had never actually tested my counter for the gentle fist. Weight training to increase my stamina, and thus my chakra reserves, directly contradicted the technique I had theorized. But there was no time like the present to try.

Despite every nerve in my arms demanding I send more chakra, I actively worked to dismiss all the chakra in my body into its two constituent parts. I closed my eyes and closed my chakra gates. If I had truly spent a lifetime without chakra, I could survive a couple minutes more.

I heard Hinata gasp. "What are you doing?" That was a sign it was working.

Although the pain from her earlier strikes had begun to fade, weariness invaded in its place. My limbs felt like jello. It was a struggle just to stay standing. _"Can I really fight like this?"_  I looked at the hesitating girl in front of me. "I strike!" I pushed the doubts out of my mind and charged.

For the first time in the fight, I took the offensive. Hinata quickly regained focus and started to tear into my arms again with the Gentle Fist. Her fingers left painful burning in my arms, but it wasn't the same debilitating pain as before. Although my speed and power were pitiful, Hinata seemed to be struggling. I had yet to land a blow but the grimace on her face was not a confident one.

Hinata fell back and fearfully asked, "What are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," was my immediate response. Although truthfully, I felt like I had run two marathons in a row. I felt nauseous and my vision was getting blurry from overexertion. It made sense why ninja equated chakra exhaustion with death. But I knew I could live off of my ki and my soul.

I charged forward again, putting all of my momentum into one final punch. But it wasn't enough. Hinata grasped my arm in the middle of my punch and used my own momentum to swing me around, flip me over her head, and slam me into the ground. The last thing I remembered was thinking,  _"Hinata's pretty cool."_

* * *

When I came to, Hinata was sitting above me, her face uncovered and worried. "Ah, ah, Haru-san, are you okay?"

I tried to answer her but ended up coughing violently instead. Eventually, I managed to assure Hinata, "I'll be fine." I couldn't move my arms or get up, but I assumed that eventually I would be okay. Chakra was a hell of a drug.

"I'm sorry, Haru-san. It wasn't my idea to fight you." Hinata's voice slowly shrank as she spoke, ending in a whisper, "I'm sorry."

"I'm going to lie here for a minute. In the meantime, do you mind explaining how it came to this?"

"Um, when I heard that you were Naruto's girlfriend, I told my sister and she told me I should challenge you to a duel. She helped me write the note too." I didn't ask how she knew where I lived. "It wasn't until the day after that I learned it was a false rumor. But by then, I had already sent the challenge," she said with a blush. Man, Hinata was going to be really cute when she's older. "My sister then told my father and it became a matter of honor so I couldn't run away." Hinata clutched her face in a double facepalm of embarrassment.

"By the way, what's with your clothes?" I asked Hinata.

"These are the traditional Hyuga robes for formal combat. I, um, thought they were kind of silly but my family insisted. And when I put them on, I felt a lot more confident. It was like, you couldn't see who I was, so I didn't have to be so afraid."

I understood that feeling intimately. I said to Hinata, "So it was your sister's idea."

"Yes!" Hinata exclaimed, happy to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Hyuga-san, I have one more question. Why didn't you just tell your sister that her idea was stupid?" I asked, finally able to sit up.

"Ah, ah, I'm sorry. I'll try that next time, okay?" Hinata bowed repeatedly in apology. "I wanted to ask you something too. During our fight, what did you do? Your chakra suddenly became dark and blurry."

I was elated to hear that. "You're talking about the Byakugan, right?" Hinata gave a guilty nod. "I was using a technique that I read about a long time ago. I can't believe it almost worked," I admitted. I looked at the young girl sitting next to me on her knees. "Maybe I'll teach it to you once I finish it. Would you like that?" Teaching the Hyuga heir the counter to the Byakugan would be my symbolic middle finger to Hiashi and Neji.

"Yes!" Hinata said enthusiastically.

"Great. I'll work on it for our rematch next week."

"Um, rematch?" the shy girl asked.

"You're stronger than you look. But next time you're going to be buying the ramen!" I grinned. Finally, I had found a sparring partner. "And you should wear those clothes again. You gotta look badass when you're having an epic showdown with your rival!"

"Rival?" Hinata's eye twitched a little.

I stood up, feeling significantly better. I dusted the dirt off my coat and said, "I had a lot of fun today. Now, I owe you a bowl of ramen." I led the stunned girl by the hand toward Ichiraku's. "So, how did you meet Naruto in the first place anyways?"

* * *

I was sitting in the Academy classroom. It was the start of the second week of school. I was wondering how I might find a kenjutsu teacher when I suddenly noticed Hinata sitting down in the seat next to me.

"Hyuga-san, I didn't know you were in the same class as me."

Quietly, she said, "I used to sit over there." The pale eyed girl pointed to the very corner seat. I had never noticed Hinata's presence before today. The stalker-fu was strong in this one.

I shrugged. Maybe it would be worthwhile to properly introduce her to Naruto. She had told me over ramen that he had saved her from bullies just before the start of Academy. It was then that I had explained the situation between me and Naruto. I was about to call the blond boy over to sit with us when Ino arrived and took other seat next to me.

"Ino, this is Hyuga Hinata," I introduced the one friend to the other. "Hyuga-san, this is my friend Yamanaka Ino." I looked over to where Naruto had sat next to Shikamaru. It was too late to invite him to sit with Hinata. Maybe next time.

Ino gave a curt "Hello," and then seemed disinterested in further conversation. Hinata also said "Hello," and then proceeded to curl into a tiny human ball.

" _Weird. I thought they'd get along better than that."_  Neither girl said anything and I continued to wonder why more ninja didn't use swords.


	27. Chapter 27

Iruka spoke to the class as we stood outside in the Academy training ground, "Today we will be testing your ninjutsu. When I call your name, you will demonstrate the Clone Technique. Remember what we discussed in class and try your best. First up, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke stepped forward and created a perfect clone nearby. The expression on his face smugly told everyone how far beneath him the exercise was; several fangirls swooned at the cool smirk.

Despite several girlish cries from the class, I could hear Naruto mutter next to me, "Not bad, not bad."

Sasuke apparently heard Naruto because he raised an eyebrow and confidently asked, "Do you think you can do better?"

"I know I can do better! Check this out!" Naruto brought his hands together in a single hand seal, "Shadow Clone Technique!" Within seconds, the field was filled with tangible clones of Naruto, enough to outnumber the entire class.

Iruka poked a Naruto clone in the back of the head with his finger. Ignoring the now disgruntled clone, Iruka spoke to himself, "Tangible clones? The Shadow Clone Technique? And so many. Impressive." And then he realized he was still teaching a class and yelled at the blond boy clad in orange and black, "There's no need to show off, Naruto! Dismiss your clones. Since you are so eager, how about you show us a proper Clone Technique!"

All of the clones groaned simultaneously before disappearing in a puff of smoke. "Stupid Clone Technique. I don't see why I gotta use the Clone Technique when I know the Shadow Clone Technique. Aren't shadow clones better?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Making so many shadow clones is a ridiculously wasteful use of chakra. The same number of illusionary clones would have taken a fraction of the chakra you just used," Iruka lectured Naruto in front of everybody.

Naruto frowned as he brought his hands together again. He ran through a series of hand seals and, with a large puff of smoke, produced an exact clone of himself. Iruka passed his hand through the clone, who shivered like a ghost passed through him, and seemed satisfied. "Good job, Naruto," he said with a nod. Sasuke tried his best to look like he didn't care.

Unfortunately for me, Iruka called on me to demonstrate the technique after only a few more names. I had been meaning to shore up my ninjutsu. The strange, chakraless state that I had entered in my fight with Hinata had been receiving most of my attention recently. It was a shame that there was only so much time after academy to study and practice.

I stepped forward and performed the standard series of hand seals. There was only a small amount of the telltale smoke that indicated wasted chakra as my clone appeared. However, my clone looked ghostly pale and had plenty of obvious inaccuracies. I knew it was a disappointing showing for someone who had trained with Ebisu for nearly two years.

"Needs work, Haru," announced Iruka. He knew I had worked with the special jounin and obviously expected more. I could only scratch my head and exhale slowly, having done the best I could do.

* * *

The Hokage Memorial had become a popular spot, judging from the number of students who ate lunch atop the mountain. It had an unparalleled view of the village, and the Academy was right at the base so it wasn't too far to travel for lunch, especially not for would-be-ninja.

I was happy to see that Ino and Sakura had quickly become friends. Sakura was firmly in the Sasuke fangirl camp, and would spend a significant portion of each lunch talking about how cool he was. From what I overheard, Ino seemed to agree with whatever Sakura said, although she seemed more supportive of Sakura than competitive. Maybe it was because they met under different circumstances? I didn't really pay much attention to them, not being interested in girly gossip.

I was also glad to see that Hinata decided to start eating lunch with everyone. Other than Sasuke, the entire Rookie Nine were present, along with several other academy students. Despite the many small side conversations, there was a feeling of closeness as we all listened to Naruto's daily stories.

* * *

After classes, I took some time to visit my favorite tea shop. The waitress greeted me cheerfully, "Welcome, Haru! How is my favorite customer doing today?"

"Hello, Hikari-san," I said with a smile before taking a random empty seat. I had been coming here for years and the woman didn't need to hear my order to bring me a mug of green tea. It used to be all I could afford. Now it was a kind of tradition for me.

I looked at the young woman as she placed the cup in front of me. Hikari had dark blue hair, almost black. She had a cheery personality and attractive body.

"Hikari-san, if I asked you on a date, what would you say?" I asked seriously.

She paused, wide-eyed in surprise. "Hahaha, I'm a little old for you, don't you think? I will admit you're a cutie though. But you're a decade too early to be trying to date me though. What's on your mind? Girl troubles? Does little Haru have a crush already?"

"No, nothing like that. By the way, can I have some mochi today? Strawberry, please."

She smiled and nodded, leaving to fetch my order. I sipped on my tea and wondered to myself when exactly my life had become an anime.  _"Probably at the beginning."_  It was hard for me to think of myself as being a first year Academy student, much less a six-year-old. I think part of the reason why I teased Ebisu and Kurenai so much was that I was jealous such a hot kunoichi owed Ebisu a favor. It would be years before I could possibly get a girlfriend who was anywhere near 'my own age'. And I definitely did not want to get involved with anyone in my class. That would be far too disturbing.

On a more contemporary topic, intentionally locking up my chakra had been interesting to experiment with. After years of subconsciously drawing on my chakra to move under hundreds of pounds of extra weight, simply lifting my arm without employing any chakra had been a challenge. Trying to perform taijutsu exercises eventually became a bit easier as I weaned my body off chakra and learned to use my physical energies instead. If I had to guess, I'd put my abilities in such a state on the level of extraordinarily fit human from 'the old world'. It was far, far lower than what an average ninja could do.

I wanted to see if I could use bursts of chakra to augment my speed and strength while still maintaining the defense against the Gentle Fist. Honestly, I had no idea if it would work. After all, I had gotten the original idea from fanfiction, which was partly why I hadn't attempted it before my fight with Hinata.

That was really the only useful theory I could think of from 'non-canon' sources. Shikamaru didn't have a sister, and neither did Naruto. A few times, I had surreptitiously dropped hints at lunch that only someone from 'the old world' would understand. But as far as I could tell, I was alone here.

Hikari arrived with a large piece of pink mochi. I handed her some ryo and was about to nibble on my snack when the woman said, "By the way, your friend was looking for you. Blond hair, blue eyes, he was about your age and wearing orange and had weird lines on his cheeks. He wanted me to tell you if you came by that he wanted to speak with you." She shrugged and then left me alone.

" _Naruto? Naruto wants to talk to me in private?"_


	28. Chapter 28

Iruka tried to get the attention of the class as we mulled about the taijutsu training field, "Today, we'll be starting practice spars." Naruto's face lit up in excited anticipation at the announcement. I also had the exact same look on my face. The both of us turned to each other simultaneously with huge grins on our faces. Finally, actual taijutsu and not just tedious exercises.

"Yes! Alright!" Naruto started to cheer and pump his fist. I simply continued to grin and waited for Iruka to tell us more. Both of us had been waiting for this day since the beginning of the week when they combined Mizuki's remedial taijutsu students with the experienced students.

Maybe Iruka could feel the atmosphere around me and Naruto. Maybe it was because the two of us were literally on our knees begging in front of the chunin as soon as he began to say "When I call your name..." For whatever reason, Iruka told us, "Uzumaki Naruto, Haru, you can go first."

I gave Naruto a high five and then we scrambled to an appropriate distance from the crowd of students. I heard Ino mutter something about boys to Sakura. Unexpectedly, I could hear Hinata cheering us on along with several other students.

Naruto spoke first, "Just like old times, eh?"

"Not quite. I assure you, I'm much better than you remember," I said confidently. I reached into my sleeves and snapped the release for my training weights. I cast them aside, along with the ones on my ankles. I still had a long ways to go to catch up to Rock Lee, but the massive crash they caused when they hit the ground killed all conversations within the crowd.

"Hey! I've gotten a lot better too. You're going down, Haru!" Naruto said with just as much confidence, taking a fighting stance. His feet were spread apart in an L-shape to minimize his profile and his fists were raised, ready to guard or attack. It was the same stance I had taught him years ago.

"The student believes he has surpassed the master," I said, mirroring Naruto. It was one of the few taijutsu elements from my early days that Ebisu hadn't found fault in. However, Naruto was in for a surprise if he thought I would fight like I did before.

Although the excitement of facing each other after years apart was still there, both our faces grew serious. We stared each other down, fighting with our spirits, what I had long ago described to Naruto as 'Haki'. Exuding waves of pure determination to win, the will to force destiny to yield victory, what people here called 'killing intent', we sent it at each other to crumble the other's mind and soul.

"You've grown powerful, Padawan!" I yelled at Naruto. I could feel his determination invading my bones, tearing down my will to move. Although strong, it wouldn't be enough to defeat my own spirit. I, too, remembered this game fondly and on my side I had the desperate strength of someone with absolutely nothing to lose, unadulterated by hesitation to strike down my enemy. I knew that Naruto could feel it eating away at his own focus just the same as he attacked mine.

I took the first step, expending a burst of chakra to flicker around to Naruto's side, "But you still have much to learn!" My kick launched Naruto bodily several feet away. Although I had surprised him, he had taken the blow well, flipping several times and landing skillfully on his feet. On his face was a feral grin I hadn't seen in years.

He rushed in, trying to blow away my defense with a long string of punches and strikes. I blocked them all with my arms but, having lulled me into a rhythm, Naruto sent me skidding backwards with a sudden side kick.  _"Fuck, that hurt. I definitely do not want to trade blows with Naruto."_  I ignored the pain in my chest. He hadn't broken anything. I was sure he had more stamina that I did, and a defensive approach to fighting Naruto was just asking to be slowly worn down. The only way I would win here was quick, decisive moves.

I flickered again behind Naruto, laying into his back with a twisting punch and followed up with a shin to his gut. The last move in the combo was an elbow with my other arm to his neck to drop him while he was doubled over from my kick. I might have won the spar then if Naruto hadn't disappeared a puff of smoke when my elbow connected. While I was off balance from my attack, the real Naruto's fist planted itself in my cheek, sending me into the ground.

I used my arms to spring off the ground and regain my footing. I was slightly disoriented from the sucker punch, but the reason why I was seeing two of Naruto was because he had made a clone. They said simultaneously, "Did you really think I'd fall for the same thing twice, Haru?" I did not dignify that question with an answer.

I was fending off attacks from four copies of Naruto and I couldn't tell which one was the real one. It was impossible to block all of their attacks and he peppered my body with bruises. Every time I managed to counterattack and pop a clone, he would just replace it with another one. Even when I jumped in the air to escape the tight formation of blond fighters that had surrounded me, they doggedly followed after me.

The simple answer was to let my chakra flow out and catch the clones in a genjutsu. Unlike my single target genjutsu, I couldn't stop multiple enemies in their tracks and completely control their perception of reality. The best I could do against multiple opponents was to spread my chakra like a cloud that would modify the senses of anyone caught in it, imparting the same illusion to each of them. Naruto and his clones would still be able to interact with reality until I could lock down the real one.

As I landed, I set a genjutsu on the ground around me and leapt away again. The various Naruto quickly called out "Kai!" as they landed in the illusionary quicksand that would actively pull on their feet. It wasn't meant to fool him but rather disorient him for a moment to let me get some breathing room. I knew better than to assume Naruto couldn't break out of a simple genjutsu. I had taught him, after all. And he had enough chakra to break through multiple layers in a single try.

I stood across from a squad of Naruto. I couldn't charge in and attack because I didn't know which was the real Naruto. The Kage Bunshin really was a piece of work. Nor did I want to get surrounded and pounded on again. Naruto had some legitimate taijutsu and I would definitely feel those bruises later. So I did the only thing I could do.

"Is that all you've got, Naruto? I can't believe that's all you learned in two years. What a waste of time," I taunted the boy. "Didn't Jiraiya teach you anything other than how to hide behind your clones?" That was as cruel as I dared to be. I was fighting a jinchuriki, and more importantly, I still considered Naruto a friend. At least Naruto's eyes were still ocean blue. I started to wonder,  _"Shouldn't Iruka have stopped us by now?"_

Each of the four Naruto began to summon chakra to their hands.  _"Oh, fuck. Eight Rasengan?!"_  Immediately, I began fueling my own Rasengans in each of my own hands.

"Multi-Rasengan!" came the simultaneous naming of the technique as each Naruto flung their swirling spheres of chakra at me.

"Rasen-Fireball!" I shouted back, launching my own flaming spheres of fire-natured chakra. As the two techniques collided, my fiery Rasengans consumed Naruto's attacks, growing larger with each Rasengan they enveloped. Once my red orbs of fire had collected all eight Rasengan, I sent them upwards into the sky, releasing the invisible threads that controlled their flight and channeled chakra to fuel the nature transformation. They exploded in a massive spectacle whose heat could be felt even from the ground.

A single Naruto stood across from me, his jaw open as he watched the technique as if admiring summer fireworks. I was bent over trying to catch my breath. One of those was hard to make. Two was my limit. Naruto still looked fresh as a daisy while I just wanted to lie down and not thing about all the hits I had taken. Instead I wondered,  _"What if those had been Rasenshuriken?"_

"NARUTO. HARU. DETENTION."


	29. Chapter 29

Apparently, using high level ninjutsu was highly frowned upon during Academy taijutsu spars. I had unsuccessfully tried to explain to the teacher, "We always practiced like that. I didn't use anything that would have killed Naruto. I probably couldn't kill him even if I tried." Iruka simply had no answer to that and, seeing the battered state of my body, angrily sent me to the Academy medical station where I spent the rest of the period.

A white-uniformed medical-nin checked my body for serious injuries and treated the worst bruises with the Mystical Palm Technique, laying a glowing hand over some nasty discolorations. I already started to hurt. I felt like I had lost to Naruto, however. I couldn't think of any way to beat his clones with anything less lethal than a Rasengan.

"Excuse me, if I wanted to learn medical techniques like what you are doing, where would I go to learn?" I asked the medic.

Without pausing the technique, the man said, "Impressed, eh? Well, if you want to become a medical-nin, you'd probably want to enter one of the medical programs that they offer at the hospital. Then you could see whether you're suited to medical ninjutsu. Mind you, becoming a medical-nin is hard work. But it was worth it because it let me help others like you. And I gotta say, kid, whoever you were fighting did a number on you. How did you get bruises all around your body like that? Usually I just see some banged up arms and maybe a bruised rib. From what I can tell, it seems like you were fighting a taijutsu monster."

I simply smiled placidly and let the man continue talking.

* * *

Naruto and I sat in detention on opposite sides of the classroom, separated by Iruka who glared at each of us in turn. Naruto insisted that I was the first to use ninjutsu with my body flicker technique. I contended that ordinary chakra-assisted high speed movement does not require any seals and is simply an advanced taijutsu technique. Iruka had apparently been tending to students who had fainted due to the immense killing intent and only properly paid attention when we started shooting chakra orbs at each other.

In the middle of Iruka's irate scolding, someone knocked on the classroom door and walked in. A male ninja whispered something in Iruka's ear. Our Academy teacher sighed and rubbed his forehead in his hand. "You two," he pointed at each of us, "are to stay here until I say you can leave. If you've moved an inch by the time I get back, you will be running laps for every taijutsu lesson from now until the end of the year!" With that, he followed the ninja messenger out of the classroom.

As soon as the door was closed, we listened for Iruka's footsteps to fade away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Naruto was sitting next to me. "I didn't know you could make the Rasengan into a fireball! That was amazing! How did you do that?"

I had spent the majority of the last two years working in my taijutsu and perfecting the fire nature transformation, much to Ebisu's annoyance. It had been infinitely more satisfying to cause tree leaves to spontaneously combust than to make ghastly, deformed illusionary clones.  _"Some people just want to see the world burn."_ The nice thing about the Rasengan was that it wasn't as picky as hand seals about how much chakra you put into it. The focus was simply on the shape transformation of the chakra. More chakra simply gave you a bigger Rasengan although it would become a massive chakra sink very quickly. It was fascinating how simple and flexible the technique was.

I had literally spent a portion of every day of the last two years burning leaves and trying to apply the nature transformation to the Rasengan and experimenting with the technique. I was still trying to juggle more than two Rasengans and it irked me that Naruto had beaten me to it. I did feel proud that he could do it properly without needing his clones to help him spin the chakra.

"Do you remember all things you had to do with your chakra to make the Rasengan work? First you had to spin it, and then thicken it for power, and then form it into a sphere for stability. The next step is to apply a nature transformation," I explained. The look on his face confirmed the Jiraiya hadn't taught him how to do that yet.

I continued my explanation to Naruto, "Everyone's chakra naturally has an affinity for one of the five basic elemental types. In my case, I have a fire affinity. What that means is that my chakra finds it very natural to burn things. I'm pretty sure you're a wind type, which means that your chakra will be really good at cutting things." I held up my hands and demonstrated with an illusion the effects of fire and wind chakra. Above my right hand, a leaf caught fire. Above my left hand, a leaf tore down the middle and then tore again and again into tiny bits.

When the illusion ended, I pulled out my notebook and tore out an empty page, ripping it into leaf sized portions. "Make seven clones, Naruto," I told him. The boy still looked confused but complied with my request. All the seats around me were filled with blond clones who patiently waited for instructions. I handed six of them a scrap of paper and the seventh clone I thralled with a genjutsu.

After it had played out, the affected clone poofed away and the original Naruto let out a long "Oh!" of comprehension. Genjutsu could be really useful sometimes. He summarized the lesson of my illusionary vision, "So if there are six clones, I can learn how to do it six times faster! That's so smart."

"Yeah. You can use it for learning just about anything. Just remember; be careful not to wear yourself out," I said blankly. "What you want to do is use your chakra to cut through the paper. As you steadily build up your chakra, you want to sharpen it. Imagine that you're splitting your chakra and grinding it against itself and honing it into the sharpest edge you can make." I rubbed the sides of my hands against each other to demonstrate the idea. "The sharper you can make your chakra, the stronger your attack will be, like the difference between a sharp kunai and a dull one. Once you can cut through an entire leaf, then you can try to make a Rasengan out of that chakra."

The clones all stared at the paper in their hands. The original Naruto showed them how to bring their hands together and they started trying to figure out the technique. Then the real Naruto turned to me. "Haru, I want to thank you for teaching me. It almost feels like, old times, yeah? But I've been wanting to ask you...where did you learn all this?"

I looked into Naruto's serious blue eyes and for a second, I considered telling him the truth. But suddenly the door opened. Naruto's clones puffed out of existence and he was back in his seat across the room. We expected Iruka but instead, Sasuke walked into the classroom.

The black haired boy walked up to the middle of the blackboard where Iruka or Mizuki would normally stand. He pointed at me and spoke, "Is it true? You taught Naruto that technique? Teach it to me."

I knew that Sasuke was living in the shadow of his older brother but that was still pretty rude. "What do I get out of it?" I asked from my seat among the empty rows. Naruto was showing an uncharacteristic amount of patience for what I expected from him.

"I'm sure my parents would hire you as a tutor if I explained the situation to them," Sasuke offered confidently.

"I don't think you understand the situation at all, Sasuke." Ordinarily, I would use a more formal 'Uchiha-san' but this kid was pissing me off. I stood up and slowly walked down the rows of seats. My body was still sore from my fight with Naruto and heavy training weights didn't make me go any faster. I sat on the desk surface for the first row and said, "I'm not interested in your money, Sasuke. However, you do have something that I might be interested in."

The boy raised his eyebrow. "And that is?"

"If you bring me the Sharingan, I'll tell you everything I know," I offered, knowing it was an absurd price. But then again, what I had to offer was similarly absurd. "It doesn't have to be yours. I wouldn't mind your brother's. Or his friend's, Shisui's."

Sasuke's face scrunched into a disgusted look, as if I had just offered him candy if only he'd get into my white van.

"How much did you hear of the conversation between me and Naruto, Sasuke?" I asked coldly.

"Enough," was his reply. Sasuke continued to stare at me intently.

"Then let me ask you something. If you had to choose between the lives of your parents or the life of your brother, which would you choose?" I asked with complete seriousness.

Sasuke became wide-eyed. "What...what kind of question is that? What are you saying? I won't let you hurt them!" he shouted, taking a combat stance.

"Just answer the question," I said without moving.

"I...I...I don't know. How can you ask something like that?" The boy's confidence seemed to dissolve into nothing when he considered the two options. Confusion returned to his face.

"How can you come to me with so little resolve and demand someone else's techniques?" I slammed my fist into the table. "You will never surpass your brother at this rate. Go away and leave me alone. Feel free to come back when you find a reason why I should tell you anything." I no longer wanted to talk to the naive little shit. I wasn't going to teach anything to someone who just wanted his parents to like him more. And as he was, there was no way he could do anything about the future.

Sasuke growled and clenched his fists menacingly, but he left without a word. I went back to my seat as Iruka had left me.

"Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto seemed to come out of shock, "Haru?"

"Do you trust me?"

He paused for a while. I simply waited. Eventually, quietly, he answered, "Yes."

"I really don't know what I'm doing," I admitted. "I don't know what I should do. All I know is that I have to do something. I can't just let things go. I don't know why I know your father's technique. I just thought you deserved to know it too. One day, when I figure it out, I'll tell you everything. Until then, all I can ask is that you believe in me."

The classroom was silent for a long time as we waited for Iruka to return.


	30. Chapter 30

Iruka walked into the classroom with an inscrutable visage. In a tired, resigned voice, he said, "Naruto, you can go home. Haru, come with me."

"Huh? Haru isn't in trouble is he? Look, it was my fault. I was the reason why the fight got so bad. So punish me instead," Naruto valiantly protested.

" _I guess that means he doesn't completely hate me."_

The scar-faced chunin shook his head. "Don't worry, Naruto. It's not like that," he assured. Then he turned to me and said, "But it is important. Let's go, Haru."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto," I said as I stood up to leave. I couldn't find it within me to put a smile on my face. Weakly, I waved goodbye.

"Yeah, yeah. And next time we'll have a proper fight," he said as he bounded down the stairs. "See ya." And then he disappeared into the halls of the Academy.

Iruka waited for me at the door as I slowly walked down the raised rows of student desks. It was half because of the soreness of my body and half because I just felt tired. "Hurry up, Haru. We can't keep the Hokage waiting."

" _Just when I thought this day couldn't get any longer."_

* * *

Iruka solemnly walked me to the Hokage's office, which was within the administrative building that was juxtaposed with the Academy at the center of the village. I did not enjoy the attention I was attracting as we made our way through the administrative building. I pulled up my hood to hide my face, which abated most of the stares. Maybe word had gotten out that I had caused the huge fiery explosion in the sky.  _"Man, and I thought the Academy rumor mill was bad."_

Eventually, he pushed open the doors to the Hokage's office. Inside, Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk, shrouded by his signature white hat. In front of the desk, Kurenai and Inoichi were standing, turned toward the door as we entered. Iruka joined them, standing next to Inoichi.

Considering the situation, I half-expected Jiraiya to show up too. I bowed and greeted the adults, "Hokage-sama. Kurenai-sensei, Yamanaka-san." I kept my hood drawn, however, to disguise the weariness that assuredly would show on my face.

"Ah, Haru-kun. We've been waiting for you. I'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind." Hiruzen Sarutobi's craggy voice was comforting, like a grandfather's, despite the fact that he was the most powerful shinobi in the entire village. "First of all, I'd like to hear your explanation of what happened during your taijutsu lesson."

"Naruto and I just fought like we always do when we spar. It's just that it's been so long that we kinda got carried away." I brought my hands up and shrugged. I didn't think simply raising my shoulders would properly convey the emotion through my coat.

Sarutobi laughed quietly. Iruka rolled his eyes and the two jounin seemed uncomfortable at the Hokage's genial mood. Sarutobi then specified, "And what about the fireball I've been hearing so much about? Half the village reported seeing an explosion in the sky. For a moment, I almost thought we were under attack." He let out one final chuckle before asking seriously, "How did you come about this technique?"

"Jiraiya has probably told you about how I taught Naruto the Rasengan. But Naruto left before I could teach him the rest of the technique. I applied a nature transformation to the Rasengan to make the Rasen-Fireball. The reason why I used it today was because it was the only thing I could think of that would counter Naruto's own Multi-Rasengan. But it ended up absorbing the chakra of his Rasengan, so I detonated my technique in the air to ensure the safety of the bystanders.

"Although I have a fire affinity, I'm pretty sure Naruto has a wind affinity. So when he figures out how to make a Rasengan with a nature transformation, it'll be different than mine. He's already figured out how to throw them as a projectile and make more than one. I'm not sure if he knows you can make them into different sizes." I felt slightly guilty that I had preempted Naruto's innovation but even so, I was proud of my version of the technique, having finally surpassed Minato's version after so many years of daily practice.

Sarutobi continued to stare at me over his steepled fingers. "Fascinating. But tell me, where did you learn the original Rasengan?"

I shrugged once again with my hands in the air, only this time it was simply because I didn't know what to say. "I don't know. Best I can tell, it might have come to me in a dream. I've just always known it." I could probably have come up with a lie. But I just didn't know what it would accomplish. And I had grown tired of lying. I couldn't tell them that I knew everything that would happen if I had never existed. But I felt I could trust the people in front of me, at least a little, although they probably heard nothing more than a flimsy lie in my confession.

The Hokage looked to his representative from the Intelligence Division. Inoichi was scrutinizing the cloaked figure in front of him, having seen me in a new light. Then the Hokage turned his head toward Kurenai, who was less surprised than Inoichi, but still impressed, judging from her smile.

"I've already heard from Kurenai that you two have been working together on an anti-genjutsu defense. Would you care to explain that to the rest of us?" the Hokage asked. I had not been expecting that to come up in this conversation.

"Well, right now the idea is to create several decoy layers of consciousness with a constant jutsu that provides a passive defense against genjutsu. Kurenai-sensei's current formulation of the technique has been effective against all traditional genjutsu that we've tested so far. I have managed to circumvent the defense but only under specific circumstances. In order to do so, you first have to be aware of the defense and second, know the implementation of the technique that was used in order to target the correct set of brain signals. The next step is testing for side-effects from long term use and creating variations on the technique to prevent an enemy from knowing which layer of consciousness is the real one," I explained nonchalantly.

Kurenai and I had spent some time every day after Academy, and most of my one day off from classes, working on the anti-genjutsu. I hadn't expected her to implement my ideas so quickly but she was the resident expert on genjutsu for a reason. "The biggest problem with the technique is that it is lightning natured, meaning that it will be difficult for many ninja to learn. I'm pretty sure there are other ways to create a genjutsu defense too, but this is the first really promising solution we've discovered."

It meant that I'd have to either learn to use Lighting Release or come up with another anti-genjutsu. It'd be worth learning another nature transformation for such a sweet technique though. The chakra drain was minimal and it wasn't extremely difficult to preform if you had experience with lightning techniques. Kurenai's truly brilliant design had been to interlock the layers such that you had to target only the correct set of brain signals. Trying to cast genjutsu on Kurenai through the defense was like trying to cut the correct wire on a bomb. If you didn't know about the technique, you'd simply cut all the wires and the bomb would go off; or if you cut the wrong wire, the bomb would go off. Then the target of the genjutsu would then know you were trying to use genjutsu. She described it like seeing an afterimage or hearing an echo of the illusion I had cast.

The Hokage rubbed his goatee as he listened to my long explanation, seemingly pleased with what he heard. "Wonderful. Haru-kun, do you realize that if you and Kurenai are successful, you will completely change the nature of genjutsu warfare?"

" _That was the point,"_  I thought to myself silently. I simply waited for the Hokage to continue talking.

"Now, I have one more question, Haru-kun. When Kurenai volunteered to be this year's kunoichi studies teacher, apparently she also enrolled you in the class. I'd like to hear your opinion about this. What do you think about the class?"

"I didn't like it at first. But at this point, I don't know why you make everyone take the class. It's actually incredibly useful." After almost a couple weeks, I had learned more from kunoichi studies than from Iruka's general ninja class. Why wouldn't everyone want to learn about the various uses of medicinal and poisonous plants? I could even see the point of ikebana, despite feeling that there was probably a better way to send covert messages.

"Hm. Interesting." Sarutobi sat back in his chair. "That's actually what Kurenai has suggested to me. The policy of exempting the male students came about simply because that's what all the clans did during times of war in order to focus on their own techniques. But now I'm starting to agree with Kurenai that perhaps that policy has become outdated."

" _Does that mean I won't be doomed to be the only boy in kunoichi class?"_  Now that much of the female population knew I was a guy, I had started to get the feeling that a lot of eyes were checking me out during Kurenai's lectures simply because I had no competition. It was highly disturbing when I considered that my classmates were six year old children.

"Inoichi, I trust you can take over from here?" the Hokage asked.

The Yamanaka head replied seriously, "Yes, Hokage-sama." Then Inoichi turned to me and said with a warm smile, "Hello, Haru-chan! It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has, Yamanaka-san." I considered something that the Hokage had mentioned the last time he had talk to me, the day that Jiraiya had left with Naruto.

"The Hokage has asked me to run some tests on you. It won't hurt or anything so don't worry. I just have to make sure that there's nothing wrong with you. So please, follow me." It was painfully obvious to me what Inoichi was talking about. But I didn't care anymore. I also wanted to know exactly what I was, who I was. Maybe he could tell me.

Before I followed him out of the room, I looked back to the Hokage who was mumbling something to Kurenai . Not knowing when I would get the chance to see him again, I asked, "Hokage-sama, do you regret letting Orochimaru go?"

Sarutobi's face hardened instantly. I could feel the dreadful waves of killing intent pass through my body. Unprepared, I dropped to my knees helplessly before I could summon the internal fortitude to resist his presence. Even after steeling myself, I wouldn't have been able to stand up for the overpowering fear of dying.  _"Shit."_

He walked around his desk and, with his wrinkled hand, lifted my hood to reveal my scowling face. With a single finger, he raised my chin and stared into my eyes. I had no doubt he could snap my neck like a twig. Iruka and Kurenai looked horrified as they watched us. Still on my knees, I stared back at the old man, my heart pounding in fear despite my futile attempts to show no weakness.

"So young, and already so brilliant. It is completely baffling. Such ambition in your eyes, perhaps even greater than my own former pupil. I would almost think you were Orochimaru himself if it weren't for the absence of his cruelty and hatefulness. So I must wonder, what drives you, Haru-kun? What makes you different from him? What happened to you, child?"

"I don't care about power or immortality. I just can't stand it when someone ruins things for others. That's why I have to get stronger."

Sarutobi let go of his killing intent. He reached into his robe and pulled out a pipe. It only took him a few seconds to fill it with tobacco from elsewhere in his clothes and light it with a spark from his fingertips. He took a couple puffs and spoke, "Haha, what an interesting answer! Well, I suppose there are worse reasons for being a ninja. Anyways, say hello to Naruto for me when you see him. And don't give Inoichi any trouble, you hear?"

All I could do was nod and rise to my feet and walk to Inoichi who was waiting outside the office to read my mind.


	31. Chapter 31

I followed Inoichi out of the administrative building. We almost matched with him in his black uniform and coat, identifying him as a member of Ibiki's Torture and Interrogation Force, and me in my own personal homage to Kingdom Hearts, although I could think of at least a few anime characters with similar coats.  _"Maybe I should change to red? Too bad guns here suck. Maybe if my arm ever gets cut off."_  That very real possibility gave me a chill.

"How is the academy, Haru-chan?" Inoichi asked with a smile.

I took my hood off, as it kind of felt wrong to talk to my old boss while hiding my face. "I've learned a bit. It can be boring sometimes. Some of Iruka's lectures make me miss having Ebisu around."

The man laughed warmly in response. "You know, Ino told me that you were in her class."

"Are you allowed to tell me what she said?" I asked, not wanting to intrude on something said in private.

"She said she was surprised that you were younger than her. I was surprised too, when I learned how old you were. You always acted so mature that it was hard to believe you were only three years old. I have to admit that it was a bit unusual," Inoichi said sheepishly over his shoulder.

"Is it really that strange?"

"A bit. And then today I learn that you're inventing completely new jutsu in your first year at the Academy. Don't take this the wrong way, Haru-chan. Even though I knew a precocious child, it's a bit much to take in. I thought you would be talented but this is...I just don't know what to make of it," he admitted somberly.

"Yamanaka-san, have you ever read my mind before?"

"I haven't. Although a friend of mine has. I did read the report though. It said that you were mostly normal, with a lot of imagined stories." The tall, blond man sighed. "The Hokage feels that a more thorough examination would be good. I will admit, I'm curious what I'll find in there," he said as he tapped my head with his finger.

"I'm curious too," I admitted.

I could see a building ahead with a plaque that read 'Konoha Intelligence Division'. Inoichi turned to me and held a hand out to present the building, "Welcome to my work!" He lead me into the building and through a maze of hallways and doors and stairs, such that I wouldn't be able to find my way out if I got separated from my guide.

We finally entered an unmarked room. Inside, three ninja stood behind a round stone counter that wrapped around a crescent shaped design on the floor with a chair in the center of the inner crescent. Apparently I was getting the full treatment. Even Ibiki Morino, in the same coat as Inoichi, was sitting in a chair on the side of the room.

The scar-faced man stood up at our arrival and spoke to Yamanaka, "So this is the kid?" He looked me over. "Isn't this a bit excessive for a little girl? What is the Hokage thinking? Even if she does have good taste in clothing," he said snidely.

Inoichi belted out a loud laugh and answered, "Maybe! But you know full well that Haru is an unusual case. The Hokage just wants to be sure."

I just sighed, giving up. I definitely did not want to ever tell Ibiki Morino that he was mistaken about anything, lest I get on his bad side.

"Alright, kid, have a seat," Ibiki ordered.

I sat in the chair and in an instant, I was encased in stone up to my neck. I assumed the three chunin behind me had their palms on the fuinjutsu covered table to help Inoichi's Mind Reading Technique. I merely gave a deadpan, half smile as Inoichi stepped in front of me and laid his hand on my head. I couldn't see his face as he said, "I'm sorry, Haru."

Then I fell asleep.

* * *

When I awoke, I was lying in a bed. It didn't look like a hospital room. I was probably still in the Intelligence Division building, judging from the plain room. Inoichi was sitting in a chair next to me.

Inoichi frowned. With his eyes closed and his brow furrowed in concentration, he asked me. "Haru, do you have memory problems?"

I wasn't sure what he was referring to. I always considered myself to have a pretty good memory, especially when it came down information about Naruto. Maybe he was talking about my amnesia of my past life? "Kind of," I answered. Honestly, anything to explain my strange extra memories would be appreciated. "Sometimes I feel like I've forgotten something, like there should be more but there isn't," I said, not telling him that I basically had no idea who I was outside of the last six years, assuming that the fleeting images that weren't associated with some kind of fiction were indeed another life.

"I have to say, you've got a lot going on in there," Inoichi said solemnly. "I can see why they said you had an active imagination. You had a lot of memories about other people. Do you write stories, Haru?"

"No."

Inoichi's lips squirmed as he considered what to say. He seemed disappointed by my answer. "I saw a lot of things that can really only be called imaginative. But none of it happened to you. You didn't meet anyone from your memories. You never heard about them from anyone. There are so many things in your head that couldn't possibly exist. You also had images of many people who actually exist, or existed. Even my daughter. You have an image of her, I think she's older, but how could you know what she will look like?"

" _If you read my mind, you should know. Why are you asking me?"_

He continued, "And I think I saw the Hokage fighting the Snake Sannin inside Konoha by himself! Why would you think that would ever happen? Why would you think that a single person could level all of Konoha. The most puzzling thing is that in your memories you never existed. No one ever told you about these things. It's like they just appear in your mind from thin air. The best explanation is that you simply created these memories in your imagination, these memories that have no connection with your life whatsoever. Most of them have nothing to do with Konoha at all. But some of the things I saw, I wanted to ask, do you think you are seeing the future?"

I could see tiredness in Inoichi's face. I said, "I taught Naruto the Rasengan when we were four years old. You're supposed to be telling me how I know it, Mind Reader-san." I was tired too. "You know about as much as I do, Yamanaka-san. I've just always been this way. I've just always known these things. I don't know why. I just assumed that if the things I know are things that will happen, then I should do something about it."

"Also, Haru, you have a strange phenomenon with your mind. As soon as you hear or read any words, they immediately turn into gibberish. It's present throughout your whole life. I have no idea what to make of it. It's almost like a code but it started before you even learned to talk or read."

" _Is he talking about English?"_  I felt both relieved that he hadn't read my thoughts and a little disappointed that he couldn't. If he understood English, he probably would have understood the entirety of Naruto's life minus me. For him, it was probably like watching raw, unsubbed episodes. He wouldn't have any idea what was happening. I almost wished he knew everything, just so I wouldn't have to carry the burden alone.

I asked him something I had been curious about since I realized he would be in my mind, "Yamanaka-san, are there any memories of before the Nine-Tails' attack? Is there anything about my parents?"

Inoichi looked down as he answered, "I'm sorry, there wasn't. It was almost like most of your memories started that night. But that might just be because it was the Nine-Tails. A lot of people have vivid memories of that night."

"So now what, Yamanaka-san?"

"Well, you get to go home, Haru-chan." He smiled warmly for the first time since I woke up. "And I get to fill out a lot of paperwork and try to figure out why your mind is a mess," Inoichi said with a sigh.

* * *

When I arrived home, it was night. The sun had gone down while I was with Inoichi. I was surprised to find a blue haired girl with straight cut bangs sleeping against my door.

"Hyuga-san...Hinata." I sat down against the wall next to the girl. She was wearing her jacket from my memories, with the fire symbol on her sleeves. I wondered when she would start wearing that to school instead of the light colored robes she wore in Iruka's class.

She woke up with a start, pushing herself away from me. "Ah, ah, Haru-san, I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, I'm here," I said, resting against the wall of my apartment.

"Why did you hold back in our duel? I saw how you fought Naruto and you didn't fight like that with me." Hinata seemed almost angry despite her quiet voice.

"Hyuga-san. When you fought me, you completely incapacitated my arm with the Gentle Fist. And then you literally dodged my genjutsu. I didn't even know that was possible. Naruto is a strong opponent. But with him I was having fun more than anything. With you, when I didn't know who I was fighting, I was scared. And finally when I tried to counter the Gentle Fist, you still creamed me with simple taijutsu. Your strengths are different from Naruto's strengths, and that's why our fight went differently. Don't tell me you wanted me to use the Rasengan on you."

Hinata started to blush and looked away. She scooted even farther away. She whispered, "Do you really think I'm strong?"

"Of course. Why do you think I challenged you to a rematch? You and Naruto are probably the strongest students in our year."

"I'm sorry you have to still make lunch for Naruto," she said. Apparently she didn't actually want her prize for winning, as she had declined the responsibility for Naruto's lunch after our duel.

"Nah. Naruto says I'm a great cook. I don't mind. I just thought it would be a good chance for you and Naruto to become closer. He's not a very picky eater, you know," I told her, resting my cheek on my fist.

"No, I...I don't care about Naruto," Hinata said with her face buried in her knees.

"But, the duel. I thought..."

Hinata interrupted me to explain, "When I told my sister about you, I thought you were a bad person. I, um, knew you weren't a girl even though you were in kunoichi lessons, because of the Byakugan. I thought you were tricking Naruto."

"What are you..."

"I told you about how Naruto beat some bullies who were picking on me. But Naruto saved me so effortlessly. I felt useless, humiliated. I thought that maybe if I could return the favor, if I could save Naruto from you," she chuckled wistfully, "that I might prove to myself that I wasn't worthless. That I was more than just a disappointment to the clan, to my father. When we fought, I felt...powerful. I felt like I didn't have to be me. Like for once I could be strong. Yes, I was scared. But when we fought, I felt like I could finally win at something for once." Hinata continued to stare at her feet as she sat across from me, fidgeting with her fingers. "I felt happy."

" _What? What is this? This isn't happening. This is a bad dream induced by Inoichi. Oh, god, I have to explain to Hinata why she can't have a crush on me."_  I just stared at the girl. She was probably cold from falling asleep outside. It would be better to explain things over tea, to let her down gently.

"Hinata, do you want to come inside?" I offered.

"Yes," she answered directly.


	32. Chapter 32

I was in the kitchen, making tea. Hinata was looking at the shelves of notebooks in my living room. She must have opened one when I heard her ask, "What is this, Haru-san? I can't read any of this."

Since I could afford paper, I had written notes on what I could remember about Naruto's life. They were nothing more than random scribbles and abstract representations of who knew who in this world. It wouldn't have been intelligible even if you could read the English despite my handwriting, but it was enough to remind me of what I needed to know if I ever felt I forgot anything.  _"Maybe that's why Inoichi asked if I wrote stories? He must have seen me writing in my notebooks."_

While the tea steeped, I went to see what Hinata had pulled out.  _"Oh, it's that one."_  Aloud, I told her, "Hyuga-san, do you want to bring that to the table? The tea is almost ready. And are you hungry? I haven't eaten yet tonight." After Inoichi's interrogation, I had come directly home, meaning I hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

"Um, I don't want to be a bother," she said quietly.

She sat down, her arms wrapped around my notebook. I set down a cup of tea in front of her. I only had the one traditional teacup, since before Hinata I never had visitors. My own tea was in a plain coffee mug that sat on the counter as I quickly prepared dinner.

Years of practice had honed my innate gift of cooking skill, which I figured came from my past life. Tonight, however, I simply pulled together side dishes from my fridge, boiled some water for miso soup, and fried some eggs and meat to go with rice from the cooker. It was essentially what I did to prepare lunch for myself and Naruto. It wasn't long before I had a decent meal laid out for myself and Hinata.

"How long were you waiting outside?" I asked.

"Ah, um, I wanted to talk to you after class..." she answered, trailing off into quiet mumbles.

I plucked the notebook from Hinata, who had been averting her gaze and was startled. I flipped through the pages of diagram and notes to find one specific page with the flowchart I needed to guide my explanation. With my left hand, I held it open on the table. With my right hand, I fed myself as I considered how to phrase what I would say.

"Aren't you going to say 'Itadakimasu'?" Hinata meekly admonished me for my lack of manners.

I shrugged and gave her a small smile. "I guess that is a thing, isn't it? Maybe my parents should have taught me better." Neither of us laughed. The blue haired girl started to feed herself silently.

"This is the story of the Paper Princess and her brothers," I told her, tracing my finger along scorchlines I had made long ago, simple circles and lines without labels. It was enough for me to remember the whole tale, however.

"Do you write stories, Haru-san?" Hinata asked, suddenly very interested in the paper under my finger.

"No. I just read a lot. Do you want to hear the story?"

Hinata gave a genuine smile as she said, "Yes, I would."

" _Goddang. So pure, so innocent, so moe. Why is itty-bitty Hinata so kawaii?"_  I felt like my heart was going to burst. Instead of looking at Hinata, I focused on how I would tell the story of Akatsuki. With a long sigh, I started to tell her a fairytale.

"Far, far away, there is a land where it rains day and night. The reason why it would rain constantly is because the sky was weeping for the country that had been torn apart by wars and bloodshed. Because of the war, a little girl, with blue hair just like yours, lost her parents. Although she was all alone at first, she eventually made friends with two other orphans and they lived together, trying to survive amidst the war that ravaged their land.

"One day, a powerful ninja was passing through the area and gave the trio of orphans some of his food. In thanks, the girl folded for him a beautiful flower out of the food wrappers of the food the man had given them. Impressed, the ninja decided to help the orphans by teaching them ninjutsu.

"For a long time, the four of them lived together, like a small family. But eventually, when the orphans had learned enough to defend themselves, the powerful ninja had to move on to other lands. Thus, it was only the paper girl and her two brothers, one who had orange hair and one who had red hair.

"Together, they decided to stop the fighting in their country. The girl with the power over paper, the red haired boy with mystical eyes, and the orange haired boy with a dream of peace, they named themselves the Red Dawn to symbolize their wish to see the end of the bloodshed and war.

"They gained many followers who shared the dream of the orange haired boy and he became the leader of the Red Dawn. Eventually, the evil ruler of the country began to see the Red Dawn as a threat and set a trap for them, telling them that he wanted their help to bring peace to the country. Instead, he killed the orange haired boy and many of his followers and kidnapped the girl who used paper ninjutsu.

"Enraged, the red haired boy set out to kill the evil ruler to avenge his brother and save his sister. To do so, he summoned a great and terrible power with his eyes and he defeated the evil ruler and became the new ruler of the land. However, the terrible power he had awoken left him greatly weakened and before the evil ruler died, he laid a curse upon the red haired boy that left him unable to walk or run.

"So as the red haired boy ruled the land, the girl of paper would help him, making wings of paper to travel the land and speak in his place. The boy used the power of his eyes to stop the rain and became revered as a god. The people would call the girl an angel of god, because of her paper wings. And for a while there was hope in the land of eternal rain. But it was not to last.

"An evil advisor appeared to help the red haired boy rule the country. But in reality, the evil advisor only wanted to take advantage of the power of the boy's eyes. The evil advisor told him that in order to truly bring peace, he must gain even more power to instill enough fear to stay any who would start war.

"In his quest for power, the red haired boy with the mystical eyes sought to steal the power of the ninja villages but together they defeated him. On his deathbed, he realized his mistake and asked everyone to forgive him as he used the power of his eyes to undo the harm he had caused.

"The blue haired girl who wielded paper was distraught that both her brothers had died and vowed revenge on the evil advisor. They fought each other and just when the girl thought she had won, the evil advisor revealed that he too, had mystical eyes and sacrificed one of his eyes to escape certain death.

"At this point, for the first time in the history of the land of rain, the skies cleared and the rain stopped. The girl declared that she would continue the dream of peace that her brothers had passed onto her. But...the evil advisor fled into the darkness before she could defeat him. And for the rest of her life, she ruled over the land, trying to bring peace that maybe, one day, the sun would shine again."

When I looked up from my notes, Hinata had a fascinated look on her face. I guess she had been impressed by the story. I suppose it was nicer than the original. I couldn't bear to tell her that Konan was supposed to die at the end.  _"Maybe it could have a happy ending after all?"_  I wondered, knowing only half the story had actually happened by now.

"That was beautiful! But it was so sad too. I'm glad there is a happy ending though!" she said cheerfully before continuing to eat her forgotten meal. I noted that my own rice had gotten cold during the story too as I started to dig in. As I was plucking food from the side dishes with my chopsticks, Hinata stopped eating to talk, "Haru-san, I've never met anyone like you before."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Hyuga-san?"

She looked down, which happened to be into her half-finished rice bowl. "You act so differently all the time. During Academy, you're always so polite and you smile all the time. But when you fought with me and Naruto, it's like the only time when you truly seem to be enjoying yourself. Even right now, you're being so nice to me but you seem so sad. It's not on your face but it's in your eyes. I don't understand it."

" _One day, I might have to do a lot of terrible things. Things that you can't be a part of."_  "I'm your rival. I'm someone you have to defeat in order to get stronger. And I don't mind helping you. You have so much potential to be an amazing ninja, an amazing person. But as your rival, I have to walk a separate path," I tried to explain.

"That sounds more like you are talking about yourself and Naruto!" the girl complained. "Haru, are...are we friends?" Hinata asked me, looking directly into my eyes.

"I think of you as a friend, Hyuga-san."

"Then...you can call me Hinata. I...I don't mind," she told me, blushing.

"It's getting late. I'll take you home, Hyuga-san," I said blankly, rising out of my chair.

"Okay, Haru-san," she said dejectedly enough to make me feel a small pang of guilt. She put down her chopsticks and followed my cue to stand up to leave.

* * *

I accompanied her to the Hyuga compound. We walked quietly the entire way there, not really having anything left to say.

"Good night, Hyuga-san," I called with a wave as I left her alone at the gate.

She seemed to hesitate but if she eventually said anything, I was already too far away to hear.


	33. Chapter 33

When I finally got home from the Hyuga compound, I collapsed into bed still wearing all my clothes. The next thing I knew, the bright light of morning was streaming onto my face.  _"Fuck, what time is it?"_  An ominous feeling welled up within me as I checked my clock.  _"Fuck."_

I leaped out of bed and into the kitchen. There was only enough rice for one lunch. Not many vegetables either.  _"I guess I'm having fruit for lunch. And breakfast. Naruto probably won't mind extra meat,"_  I considered as I packed a lunch for Naruto while simultaneously tearing into a banana.

Once I had taken care of victuals, I grabbed my school bag and stuffed my feet into my sandals. I leapt onto the rooftop nearest my apartment door. And then my body reminded me in detail about my fight with Naruto the day before. The soreness in my body was compounded by the fact that I had worn my training weights all night, meaning that my body hadn't particularly benefitted from last night's sleep. Constant training is nice but I still needed to rest. At least the genjutsu in my shadow didn't suck away chakra in my sleep.

It was too late to go back and take off the weights. I was tired and sore and hungry and racing toward the Academy. It was a glorious start to another day in Konoha.

* * *

"I'm glad you could join us, Haru," Iruka said as I crept into the classroom. "I'm sure you have a good reason why you've decided now is the best time to arrive."

I could see Hinata in the back row of the classroom. She was the only student not watching Iruka chew me out. The look on her face was something between guilt and terror; I couldn't tell from so far away.

"I overslept, Umino-sensei."

He sighed before sternly telling me, "I know you had a busy day yesterday so I'll let it slide. But it had better not happen again, Haru!" He waved me off and I scanned the room for a seat. The closest open seat was next to Ino several rows up.

Ino seemed uninterested in my late arrival, with her chin propped up with her palm. _"I haven't talked to Ino in a while. Wait, did I do something wrong? Is she angry at me?"_

I asked her quietly before sitting, "Is this seat taken?"

"I don't suppose it is," Ino curtly replied without looking at me.

As I sat down and pulled out my notebook and texts, I attempted to evaluate the situation,  _"I think she's angry at me. God, what do I do?"_

"Ino, are we still friends?" I whispered to the girl sitting next to me.

"Yeah, we're still friends, Haru," she answered resentfully, like if I had just asked whether she had done her chores for the day.

"Ino, did I do something to make you upset with me again?" I whispered again.

"What? No. Maybe. It's complicated, okay?" Ino said brusquely. I expected the blonde girl to be mad at me, but instead she just refused to look at me.

" _Whatever. I tried."_  The inner workings of adolescent girls were beyond me. But this was a good opportunity to ask Ino something I had been wondering about. I seared a question into my notebook and slid it in front of the girl. "Do you ever wish you were stronger?"

I waited for her to glance at my question. Whereas I would have answered immediately with an 'Of course,' Ino stared at my writing for a while. Then she glanced at me, and around the room at the other students. I had no idea what she was thinking about. But eventually she took her pencil and wrote 'Sometimes' in neat and cutesy script.

That was enough for me. I settled into my seat and unsuccessfully tried to not fall asleep as Iruka droned on about introductory kunai parabolas.

* * *

"Haru! If class is boring you so much that you'd fall asleep, then maybe you'd grace us with the answer to this problem?" Iruka yelled at me, slapping the blackboard behind him. That was all I heard before I opened my eyes automatically.

"Sure, Umino-sensei," I responded groggily as I walked down to the blackboard. Chalk in hand, I quickly worked out the zeros of the equation to find out the maximum throwing distance for the kunai in the problem. It was just basic algebra and I had already reviewed that portion of our Academy textbook.

As I stumbled back to my seat, Iruka mumbled, "Uh, that's correct. Good job, Haru." I rested my head in my arms on the table, ignoring Ino's look of surprise. Maybe if I slept some more, I wouldn't be a complete mess for taijutsu. It was worth a shot.

* * *

At lunch, as soon as I had handed Naruto his bento, Ino dragged me away by the arm, telling me, "We need to talk."

She briskly walked us through the Academy and up several flights of stairs to the Academy roof.

"So spill. What are you? Are you some kind of evil demon in disguise? An ANBU agent pretending to be a kid? Tell me the truth!" she demanded as she slammed the door shut behind me.

"Why would you think that, Ino?" I said innocently.  _"If only she knew how close her guesses were."_

She glared at me. "Why do you look exactly the same as I remember you? The more I look at you, the more I realize you haven't changed other than your clothes. You look just like you did when we were three. That's not normal!

"And then there was that fight with Naruto! Where did you learn to fight like that? The whole class could barely follow what you and Naruto were doing. Normal people can't throw giant fireballs into the sky. And what does 'Just like old times,' mean?

"And whenever I bring it up with my dad, he just says I'm being paranoid. Is he in on it? Did you brainwash him? I just...I realized that I didn't know you at all. So just tell me the truth. Please." Slowly, the fire inside Ino burned away and she lost steam by the end of her explanation, her frustration turning to insecurity. All the while, I listened impassively until she finished.

"I grew up with Naruto in the same orphanage. Ever since we were little, before I worked for your parents, I've taught him ninjutsu and taijutsu. The reason why I stopped working for your parents was because the Hokage decided to assign me a private tutor to teach me until the Academy. At the same time, Naruto also found a teacher, but instead of staying in Konoha, they traveled abroad until it was time for Naruto to come back for Academy.

"The reason why I look like the same age as when we first met is because I was using a genjutsu to make myself look older." As I explained, I prepared a demonstration, crunching down a suggestion into a genjutsu that my chakra would carry through the air to Ino. I had no idea how old I actually was, but I hedged my bets and made myself appear to be in my early twenties. "Your father knew right away that I was using a genjutsu to disguise myself but let me work for him anyways. I think he had one of his colleagues check my memories but at first they didn't look deep enough to find anything unusual."

"Is that...what you really look like?" Ino asked, wiping something from her mouth. She seemed dazed by my explanation.

"Nah, it's just what your mind thinks I'll look like when I'm older. Back then, I would have looked about five or six years old, which is why I look the same to you now. Yesterday, the Hokage asked your father to look into my mind again. Afterwards, Inoichi told me what I already knew about myself, that since I was born, I had an inexplicable collection of memories in my mind. I have memories about a lot of people, even people I've never met, and most of my memories are of people and places that couldn't possibly even exist. But a few of them...are about Konoha.

"I even have memories of things that haven't happened yet, a lot of terrible things that will happen that...I feel like I should change. If I can. That's why I work so hard. Because I can't just let things happen. I...I feel responsible. Ever since the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha, I've known all these things. It's like I learned a million things in another life, and then I forgot everything about myself and I was born here. That's why I'm not normal, Ino. Because I was born with a lifetime worth of memories and I basically feel like an adult in a kid's body. The Hokage thinks I'm just really smart but I'm not really sure about that," I explained honestly, ending by dismissing the genjutsu that would make me seem taller and older.

"Who...who are you, Haru?" Ino asked me, trying to understand.

"I don't know. I'm just me," I said lamely. "I'm just Haru."

"That's crazy! How can you expect me to believe that?" Ino shouted in a vain attempt to force reality to make sense.

"You can just ask your father about it. But with anyone else, can you keep it a secret, Ino? We're still friends, right?" I asked, smiling sadly. Normally, I'd assume Ino was a decently mature person who wouldn't betray a friend. But at the moment, I had no idea what Ino was thinking. She had pretty much figured out most of it and if I didn't tell her the truth now, that would be the end of my friendship with her. I wanted to believe in her though, even if it was just my selfish desire for a friend I didn't have to lie to.

"Just...let me think about it..." the young blonde girl said, holding herself in her arms. She walked to the guard rails at the edge of the roof and stared out into the distance in thought.

"Okay, Ino." I turned and left through the roof door, leaving the Yamanaka alone to her thoughts.


	34. Chapter 34

" _I'm so stupid. Why did I expect a six year old to understand? I might as well have just announced it to the entire Academy by telling Ino."_  I slammed the door to the roof shut behind me and was about to head down the stairs but a familiar face was standing at the top of the steps and grinning, holding an empty bento.

"What do you want, Naruto?" I seethed, still angry at myself for trying to trust the Yamanaka girl.

"Hey, Haru. I just wanted to thank you for lunch. It was great! And no vegetables!" Naruto said cheerfully, holding forward the empty lunch box.

I snatched it from his hands and lashed out at the boy, "Do you want to know the truth, Naruto? The truth is that I'm a freak of nature and I have no idea why I even exist." I immediately regretted saying it. But it was true. The story would have ended just fine without me. Naruto and Sasuke and Madara, and then happy ending. I was completely unnecessary. I was just ruining things by my mere presence. I regretted ever talking to Naruto in the first place, years ago in his room at the orphanage.

Naruto simply sat down on the top step and looked far away through a window. "I know the feeling. I ask myself the same thing sometimes. Why my folks chose me. Why I have this...thing inside me," he said seriously.

I let out a deep sigh and then sat down next to my estranged friend. "I guess Jiraiya explained it all then?" The sky outside the window seemed so calm.

"Yeah. The old man also said I shouldn't trust you. That you ain't normal. Suspicious, he said." Naruto admitted apologetically.

"That's for sure," I concurred. "Hey, Naruto..."

"What's up?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything sooner."

"That's okay, Haru. I kinda get that you have your own problems. Like the broad who's listening to us," Naruto said with a wily smile.

Ino asked, making her presence known, "So it's true? Everything you told me was true?"

"As far as I know," I answered with another exaggerated shrug.

It was only a short pause before Ino asked another question, "If we're friends, Haru...can you turn into that older guy again? And you gotta look like that when we're together. But don't show it to anyone else! You're only allowed to look like that when you're with me!" I suddenly wondered whether Naruto had ever invented Sexy no Jutsu during his time with Jiraiya. It would explain why he was laughing so hard.

* * *

I was in an unused training field, furiously practicing my Academy Clone Technique when I thought I heard someone above me in the trees. "Hey, Kabuto, do you want to get some anmitsu?" I said on a whim without turning to see who was there.

"One day I'll find out how you do that," the young man grumped as he landed on the ground nearby.

" _Being mysterious is one percent timing and 99 percent talking to thin air,"_  I mused to myself before I turned to greet Kabuto. "I know this really great place by the library. The waitress there is really cute. And she's single. Who knows? The two of you might hit it off."

Kabuto Yakushi pushed up his glasses and ignored my suggestion. "You're an interesting person, Haru," he remarked as he leafed through a voluminous manila folder he had pulled out of seemingly nowhere. The folder in his hands was littered with clipped in notes and papers of all shapes and colors. "You give T&I the runaround and yet you're entirely willing to reveal your innermost secrets to a sad, little girl."

That killed my mood completely and I dropped the friendly persona. "What do you want, Kabuto?" I asked, weighing my options carefully.  _"Chakra low. Body exhausted. He's far enough away that I could summon a supernova before he would get into scalpel range, but I probably only have enough juice for one. Genjutsu seems more cost effective at this point though."_  I prepped an illusion while I waited for him to answer.

He lifted page after page of what was presumably my complete file, ignoring my question. "Anti-genjutsu? Experimental fuinjutsu? An elemental transformation of one of the Fourth's personal techniques? And so many curious visions. If only someone knew what it all meant. Did you know that they're calling it a kekkei genkai? The 'Many-Worlds Eye'? Yamanaka Inoichi's notes are quite fascinating."

He set upon the ground a small black jar, covered in seals. Then he gently kicked across the space between us so that it rolled lazily into my sandal. I picked it up and examined it gingerly but it was completely opaque and I could only guess what was inside.

"Just consider that a token of good will. It's what you wanted, isn't it? The Sharingan?" Kabuto chuckled sinisterly. "If you ever decide you've had enough of Konoha, I would be happy to take you in. You will know where to find me."

"Kabuto, tell me one thing," I said, intrigued.

"Haha, ask away," the innocuous young man allowed confidently.

"Why should I expect Orochimaru to give me anything I want?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

"You think Orochimaru is the reason why I invited you to come along with me?" Kabuto asked. I had wanted to speak to something deep inside him but apparently he was merely amused by my question. "I suppose I expected too much from you right now. Well, I'll be seeing you around." And in the second before he disappeared in a shunshin, I could have sworn I saw a flash of sadness overtake his expression of mirth.

Suddenly alone, I decided maybe I should just go to bed early today, lest someone else decides to have an even more interesting conversation with me. The small jar felt ominously heavy in my pocket as I walked home.


	35. Chapter 35

"Prepare yourself, Hyuga-san! I, the blazing lightning of Konoha Academy, will have my revenge! The wrath of the heavens rain down upon you!" I yelled like a moron, shinai in hand. Despite my best efforts, Hinata deftly turned aside all of my clumsy sword strikes. Likewise, without my practice weights, I was fast enough to evade or block her Gentle Fist strikes with my bamboo practice sword, although Hinata rarely took opportunities to attack me.

"Why are you talking like that?" Hinata shouted. The effort needed to maintain the Byakugan was apparent in her voice. "It makes you sound like a moron."

I broke off and put some distance between us to speak, "That's the point. It's called banter. Now you're supposed to shout back something like "You're going down!" or "We've only just begun!" or "Take that!" as you continue to attack."

Again, Hinata was dressed in the formal Hyuga combat robes which were many-layered clothes of various shades of white. The cloth wrappings that obscured most of her face except for her mouth hid her eyes, forcing her to use the Byakugan to see. It was honestly frightening to see on an opponent, even though I knew it was Hinata underneath.

"Can't we just spar normally?" she whined. Her dour attitude reflected in her stance. That would not do. Maybe it would help if she had some kind of motivation to fight?

"Absolutely not. This is a duel of honor! We must show utmost respect for tradition as we test both our bodies and our minds," I declared.

"I still think it's kind of stupid," she muttered.

"How about this...If you manage to defeat me, I shall permit you to ask of me any request which I will then fulfill to the best of my abilities. Should you fail, however, you will have to dye your hair red and wear pigtails for a week!" I managed to catch myself before I accidentally blurted out 'I shall permit you to date me.'

The girl in white hesitated. As her focus shifted from the battle to what she would ask of me, I charged with my shinai ready for an overhead strike.

I heard Hinata shout, "Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms." After being stabbed in the torso about a million times in a few seconds, I was finally allowed to slump to the ground.

" _Oh, God, just let me die."_

Hinata crouched down. Worriedly, she asked, "Are you okay, Haru?"

To reassure her, I wheezed nonchalantly, "I'll be fine. Just let me lie here for a minute." As I dismissed my chakra, the pain started to fade from my chest.

There were a lot of problems with trying to fight without chakra. It felt like swimming in molasses compared to average ninja speed. And my body felt extremely fragile, like an ordinary punch would tear through my bones like paper. And it was either on or off. I couldn't shut down chakra to specific body parts. It did have one nice, unexpected benefit; I found in my after-class session with Kurenai that it essentially immunizes you to genjutsu when you locked up enough of your chakra. But as it was, I couldn't use it in a fight.

Hinata began to remove the wraps from her face. By the rules of our match, I had fallen first, meaning Hinata had won. I asked her, "Alright, dark-haired warrior. Name your prize."

"Ah, um, are you sure I can pick anything?" Hinata pushed her fingers together and avoided looking me in the eye.

I stood up and dusted myself off, already considering my plan for next week's duel. "Sure. I don't mind."

"Haru, will come to my home tomorrow?" Hinata continued to look away.

 _"That's simple enough,"_  I thought to myself. "Sure. When do you want me to come over?"

"Um, is noon okay?" She smiled, but still stared at the ground next to her.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow! And don't forget, I want a rematch same time next week." Both of our 'duels' had taken place on the last day of the Academy school week, meaning that tomorrow was our one day off from school.

I picked my training weights off the ground and limped home, ignoring the pain caused by the circulation of chakra necessary to lift them. At least it was much less than before.

* * *

I was lying in my bed, staring at the tiny black jar Kabuto had given me. I wondered what the seals meant, whether there were actually Uchiha eyes inside, and who they might have belonged to.

When I told Sasuke I wanted the Sharingan, I had been joking around by assigning an impossible request. Looking back, I had been so unjustifiably angry at the kid. He hadn't really done anything wrong, other than being impertinent and having terrible timing. Objectively, I couldn't fault Sasuke for jumping at the first opportunity to catch up with his brother.

I had mentioned Shisui's eyes because I definitely didn't want anyone to have those. And if I had Itachi's eyes, I'd give them to Sasuke to unlock his Eternal Mangekyo sooner. If I ever had Sasuke's eyes, maybe Itachi could use them. I certainly didn't want them for myself.

I had no idea how I could get an eye transplanted secretly in Konoha. Even having a genuine Sharingan eye was damning evidence of wrongdoing. Every time I left my apartment, I was scared someone would search it and accuse me of bloodline theft.

Not to mention, the Sharingan was an insane chakra expenditure if you weren't an Uchiha or had Hashirama's DNA. At this point, I wasn't sure the benefits outweighed the cost. The only way I could think of to conceivably make use of the eye for myself was to defect to Sound and nab some Hashirama goodness for myself from Team Orochimaru. But it would kill me to be under the Snake Sannin's thumb, figuratively and probably literally.  _"Sorry, Kabuto."_

So at this point, it was nothing more than paperweight. I couldn't ask about it because didn't want it to disappear into some evidence locker where Danzo could add it to his future collection, but I couldn't use it either. And personally, I just really hated the Sharingan. The cause of so many problems in this world, and nearly impossible to fight, I didn't think I could ever bring myself to install one in myself. It just wouldn't be...fun.

I stuffed the small container into a jar of grape jam that had been languishing in the door of my fridge and hoped that wasn't a commonly known ninja trick here. I liked strawberry preserves on my toast more anyways.

* * *

In the morning, I headed to Yamanaka Flowers. I could already see Ino behind the counter through the open doorway, flipping through a magazine. She seemed so young to be looking over the store by herself already. Maybe her parents were in the back? Then again, I had been entrusted with the same job when I was even younger.

I stepped inside and was greeted by the pleasant smell of flowers and Ino's lazy greeting, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers...Haru?"

"Hello, Ino. How are you?" I said happily.

"Your clothes!" she exclaimed.

"Does it look okay? I haven't worn these in forever." I thought it would be rude to show up at the Hyuga compound with a hood over my face, so I had worn my red kimono and white hakama. When I had bought them, I had gotten the largest size that would fit properly. Since then, I had grown enough that my training weights showed under my sleeves, and the hakama didn't quite hide my footwork properly. Otherwise, I thought the outfit still worked fine. I left out the scar, however, since they were Hyuga and would see through the genjutsu.

"You look nice," Ino said, lifting the magazine off the counter to continue reading it more closely. Looking over the top of the magazine, she asked, "So what brings you here, Haru?

"Ah, these ones mean 'friendship', right?" I asked, picking some white flowers with delicate, dark tipped stamens.

"Right! Oh, are you here as a customer? Are you running an errand for someone or...?" Ino put down her magazine and walked around the counter to take my selection.

"Actually, Hinata asked me to come to the Hyuga compound today. I didn't want to show up empty handed so I figured I'd stop by here and buy some flowers. Ino, can I ask you for a favor? Ino? Are you okay, Ino?" Ino had stopped wrapping my flowers and was just standing motionlessly, staring at the flowers in her hand.

"Haru...do you like Hinata?" she asked slowly.

"Hm. It's more like I think she has a lot of potential." I answered honestly. "I don't know if that makes any sense to you."

"It doesn't," Ino replied, handing me a finished bouquet.

I handed Ino enough cash to pay for the flowers. "Ino, I'm going to enroll in the Hospital's medical program," I informed her.

"But what about Academy?" she asked with a shocked expression.

"I'm going to do both. The Hospital has a set of classes I can take at night. That's why I asked if you wanted to get stronger. I think it would be good for you and me," I told her. "And it might not be so bad if I had someone join with me. Like with kunoichi class." It would be nice to have a friend with me to endure the workload together. The idea to invite Ino was only slightly influenced by the jar of eyeball in my fridge.

The blonde girl seemed intrigued by the idea. "I'll think about it."

I plucked one of the flowers from the bouquet and handed it to Ino. "Here, this one is for you. Also, Ino, I wanted to ask you for a favor. Can I leave something here and pick it up later today?"

"What are you talking about?" Ino wanted to know.

I unfastened my training weights and gently laid them on the floor behind the counter. "I hope you don't mind."

"No problem," she said sardonically. She looked at the lone flower in her hand. "What are friends for?"


	36. Chapter 36

I lazily walked toward the Hyuga compound, flowers in hand. I wanted to see if I could spend the entire day without any chakra whatsoever, which was why I left my weights with Ino.  _"Maybe I wouldn't feel so weak if I got used to it?"_  Whether it was a good idea to walk into a group of Byakugan users with the 'counter' to their bloodlimit, I had no idea. But at least if Hiashi and I met, I would face him on my own terms and not let him lord over me with the superiority of the Byakugan and the Hyuga clan.

I was fixing my ponytail when I saw Hinata by the gates. She was still a ways off. I felt annoyed that I couldn't just bound over to her in a few steps at ninja speed.  _"Maybe if I just let out my chakra for a split-second. Like iaijutsu."_

It wasn't particularly difficult to stop myself from making chakra. It was like I was keeping my eyes shut, except inside my being. It wasn't difficult to maintain. But like having my eyes shut, going without chakra dulled my instincts. It would only take a single flicker to reach Hinata. Just a peek of chakra. Just a taste.

I imagined clapping my hands together once, a split-second burst of chakra. If I timed it right, I should be able to propel myself to Hinata.  _"Three...two...one..."_

Something went horribly wrong as I crashed into the ground, my legs having given away from under me. I laid on the ground, unable to stand as my lower body burned with pain. Hinata must have noticed because she screamed and ran towards me. I panicked and let my chakra flow freely, which seemed to turn the burning feeling into mere soreness. Gripping my legs, I wondered,  _"Maybe I didn't use enough chakra?"_

"Haru-san! Are you okay?" Hinata asked, not knowing what she should do.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," I groaned. I was already feeling better by the second. "I just did something stupid. Don't worry about me." I stood, despite the shakiness in my legs, and hobbled confidently toward the gate to Hinata's home. It only took a few seconds to replenish the chakra deficit in my legs. By the time Hinata had broken out of her surprised state and met me at the gate, I had already sealed my chakra again.

I dusted myself off the best I could and handed the girl the flowers that I had brought. Only a few had bent out of shape from my tumble. "These are for you, Hinata."

"Thank you, Haru-san. They're very nice," Hinata said. She was wearing some simple pale-colored robes and not her ordinary hooded jacket. "Do you want to come inside?"

* * *

The Hyuga compound was a traditional Japanese-styled series of buildings. It was surprisingly busy. I saw men and women talking amongst each other, sometimes carrying things between the various buildings that made up the compound. All of them had the same pale eyes. Even the children that were running around. Nearly every adult was wearing a Konoha headband.

I felt a tug on the side of my kimono. "Are you the hero?" asked little Hanabi. She couldn't have been more than three. Unlike her sister, she had long, flowing black hair with brown overtones instead of blue. And there was a sharpness to her eyes that I found hard to imagine on Hinata.

"Nah, I'm the evil sorcerer," I said happily. "Hinata defeated me and turned me away from the path of darkness. Isn't your sister amazing?" Hinata blushed furiously and dragged me away by my arm. She slammed open a nearby door and shoved me inside before closing it behind her.

Once she realized that we were alone together, her face grew even more red and she stammered, "Ah, ah, I'll...I'll get some tea!" Hinata walked through another doorway leading farther into the building.

The room had a single low table in the middle where I sat on the floor to wait for Hinata to return. The walls were adorned austerely with the occasional frame of poetic calligraphy.  _"Could use some flowers to liven this place up."_

It wasn't long before Hinata returned with two piping hot cups of tea. She placed one in front of me and the other across the table. Instead of sitting down, however, she put her hands together and whispered to me, "I'm sorry, Haru-kun." Before I could say anything, she dashed out of the room again. And in her place, a man stepped into the room, Hiashi Hyuga.

I rose to bow. "Hyuga-dono, it is an honor to meet you."

The stern looking man bade me sit with his hands. "So this is the young lad who has lit a fire in my eldest daughter's heart," he said with a chuckle and a sly smile.

I felt nervous. "Could you explain what you mean by that, Hyuga-dono?"

Hiashi sat down across the table, supremely relaxed. His wrist rested on his raised knee as he spoke, "At first, I was opposed to this farce. Clan honor is not something to be trifled with. I admit that I don't quite understand what my daughters were thinking, sending you a formal challenge. But when Hinata left for your first duel, I could sense something in her. You must have seen it too for when she returned, it had grown. Something I had never been able to cultivate, despite my best efforts, do you know what it is?"

"Determination," I answered blankly.

Hiashi smiled in satisfaction. "For the entire week, she trained like never before to defeat you again. I was amazed. I could only imagine what happened between the two of you, between the heir to the Hyuga and a boy who seems to have no chakra whatsoever."

"It does seem like I have no chakra, doesn't it?" I laughed but it sounded hollow even to myself. "I'm still working on perfecting the technique. It leaves a lot to be desired," I told him frankly.

"This technique of yours," Hiashi said as he rubbed his chin. "How did you come across it?"

"I used to read a lot."

"Hm. Does anyone else know about this 'technique'?" he asked, focusing his eyes on me.

"I intended to teach Hinata when I had something combat worthy. As it is, it's only good for clearing my tenketsu faster after she beats me up." I stared back at him. "Hyuga-dono, may I ask you something about the Byakugan?"

At that, Hiashi sat up straight, no longer relaxed and genial. "It depends on the question being asked."

"The Byakugan can see great distances in 360 degrees. It can also see through solid objects. What I want to know is, how far underground would a talented Byakugan user be able to see?"

The Hyuga clan head looked me up and down and carefully considered his answer. "Far enough," he said curtly.

"Haha, I'm sorry to have ruined the mood, Hyuga-dono," I said honestly. I was starting to think I had a habit of going too far with my questions.

"Haru-kun, what exactly are your intentions toward my daughter?" he asked directly, with utmost seriousness as could be expected from a protective father, despite the fact he was talking to a six year old.

"I think Hinata has a lot of potential. I want to help her realize it and get stronger together, as friends. Because if I can't get stronger, I won't be able to...beat..."  _"Orochimaru. Kabuto. Akatsuki. Obito. Madara."_  There was so much I had to prepare for. It felt like a race that had just started and I was already behind. I knew Hiashi could sense the anger that was boiling inside me as I trailed off in my answer, but he didn't press me to continue.

All Hiashi said was, "Take care of Hinata for me." He picked up his tea for the first time and sipped from it before adding, "If you break her heart, I'll kill you."

Slowly, my head came to rest on the table. Bent over, suddenly exhausted and cognizant of the situation, I answered, "I understand, Hyuga-dono. But really, it's not like that. We're just friends."

"Well, if it's like that, please continue to get along with her. And remember what I said," he said innocently yet with hidden malice, like a knife hidden inside a bed pillow.

With my head still on the table, all I could do was groan pitifully.

* * *

Hinata was guiltily fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke after her father had left, "I'm sorry, Haru-kun, but my father said that he wanted to meet you. What did he say to you?"

I lifted my head from the table finally and reassured her, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

We sat in awkward silence. I think it was a full minute before I chugged my lukewarm tea and suggested, "Hey, Hinata, do you like ramen?"

* * *

Together, we headed to Naruto's apartment. When I mentioned to him that I wanted to go to Ichiraku's, he was ecstatic. Despite his desire to head there immediately, I insisted there was one more stop we needed to make. Luckily, by the time we stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino's mother was there to watch the store for her. So the four of us went together to Ramen Ichiraku. And I think, for the first time in my life, I was truly surrounded by friends.


	37. Chapter 37

In front of me, there were three princesses. Ino was standing to the left, wearing a rich purple gown like a Disney princess, complete with crown and long blonde hair. Hinata was to the right, with long blue hair, shining tiara, and a pure white gown. Between them was a stone altar upon which a third princess slept.

As the two girls smiled and waved royally, I moved closer to inspect the figure lying on the table. She had long red hair and a matching red dress. That was all I could make out before I was awake and the vision lingered in my consciousness, the dream having ended there.

" _That had better not be me on that table,"_  I thought to myself as I wondered where I was. The last thing I remembered was walking home by myself after saying goodbye to Naruto and Ino and Hinata. The two girls had gotten along better than I could have hoped.

I literally could not see. I tried to rub my eyes but realized I had heavy, metal shackles around my wrists and also my ankles. The floor seemed to be made of steel. I did the sensible thing and tried to summon a small flame of fire chakra to my fingertip for light, but when I unsealed my chakra, I felt it immediately being sucked away into my bindings.

It was only a second before I closed my gates but there was no chakra left to return to physical and mental energy. It frightened me to lose a decent chunk of stamina so quickly.  _"I guess using the Rasengan to bust out is out of the question."_

With nothing else to do, I sat in a lotus position and meditated in the dark.  _"I hope there's a bathroom."_

* * *

It was a short while until I heard the click of a locking mechanism and the grinding of a heavy door opening. The hallway outside streamed a dim light through the doorway onto the floor. A man holding a cane walked into my cell. Danzo Shimura. Two masked ninja accompanied him at either side, each holding a lit candlestick.

"Haru-kun. It has been a while. I'm sorry for the rough treatment. I was hoping to have a conversation about something I've been wondering about recently," the old man spoke authoritatively, as if the thought that I would go against him was absurd. "Do you remember the first time we talked, Haru-kun? You spoke in a strange manner, as if you were speaking an entirely different language. I suspect, Haru-kun, the gibberish, the static that Yamanaka Inoichi described as he read your mind, perhaps to you it is not gibberish at all. Perhaps it is simply another language you've known since birth, a key to understanding the visions that exist in your mind."

"That is an interesting theory, Danzo-sama. But even if it were true, what would you hope to learn by bringing me here?" I asked, motionless as I sat on the floor.

"There are many things I plan on asking you. I hope that you will cooperate freely without the need for additional persuasion," he said with a shadow of a smile flickering on his face in the candlelight.

"Then let me explain everything to you, Danzo-sama."

"Please do."

I spoke sadly, "Unable to accept that you could ever possibly be wrong, in all my memories you never once learn what true strength is, calling it weakness. Your first mistake happened long, long ago in the First Shinobi World War. The reason why Hiruzen offered to sacrifice himself before you, why the second Hokage chose him instead of you, is because you decided that you'd be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of Konoha, for honor. The reason why Hiruzen volunteered first was because he loved the village. He loved the people of the village, including his teammates. And if you have that kind of reason, it's impossible to hesitate with fear. That is why the Second chose him instead of you."

"Is that so? Well, it's a moot point now, child. Konoha has already rejected me. The Hokage has already ordered my capture and interrogation. I no longer have a home in Konoha," he told me, the weariness of age creeping into his voice.

"Danzo-sama, your second mistake was to destroy the fledgling Akatsuki. From the ashes of an organization that only strove for peace, a hideous perversion of that dream will arise. It's leader has learned from your example, and will seek peace through the obliteration of Konoha. All because you wanted to become Hokage."

"That is...interesting. Are you finished yet?" he said, almost not paying attention.

"Your third mistake, Danzo-sama, is that you do not even truly understand what Konoha is. In the future, you would have secretly ordered the execution of every last Uchiha on the suspicion of treason. In a way, you orchestrated your own death at the hands of the last Uchiha. You must have known of it. I imagined that Yamanaka-san mentioned that you fought to the death with an Uchiha Sharingan user."

Danzo said nothing at this point.

"What you failed to understand is that Konoha is not an army. It is a family. You cannot excise from the family those that disagree with you. To do that is to tear the family apart. If you continue in that belief, what will be left is not peace for Konoha, but quiet ruin. You, who knows not the true meaning of strength, who doesn't know the true meaning of peace, who believes himself to be the whole of Konoha, although you worked so hard for the sake of the village, in my memories, no one has done more to ensure its destruction than you."

That summed up everything I had come to believe about Danzo over the years of picking through my memories. The man simply would justify anything and everything in the name of sacrifice in his foolishness and arrogance. I was surprised I was able to say so much to him.

Danzo spoke solemly at first, "I tire of this. You tell me that everything I ever did was a waste? Who are you to tell me anything? A child lecturing me? And apparently Hiruzen agrees with you!" At this point, his cane splintered violently as he smashed it against the wall. "I've stood in his shadow for decades. I've done his dirty work. I dirtied my hands my whole life and you tell me that I'm wrong?!"

"Danzo-sama, the proof is right in front of you. Am I not Konoha just the same as you? Or am I merely a sacrifice for the greater good? Do you even ask yourself whether you are making the right choice anymore when the only thing you won't sacrifice is yourself?"

For years I had wondered how Danzo would react to the words I had just spoken. Now that I knew, I could only feel sorry for the man. For all of his followers, he had no loyalty. For all of his power, he had no admiration. For all of his earnest, he would destroy Konoha like no other. I felt pity for him because despite all of his years of living and Hiruzen's efforts, he would choose to turn away from the truth in favor of his misguided beliefs.

Danzo impaled the splinted remains of his cane through my leg and through the floor of my cell. I couldn't stop myself from screaming. I gripped the wooden pole with my hands but without chakra I was too weak to pull it out. I kept screaming shamefully as he spoke, "That pain you feel is only a fraction of the pain I've endured for Konoha. If you can't tolerate that much pain, you have no right to question my decisions. Consider my words carefully until I return."

The man and his two masked guards left, closing the door and leaving me again in total darkness. Eventually, I gave up trying to pull his cane from my leg and just wept by myself, clutching my left leg.


	38. Chapter 38

Although I tried to meditate, it was exponentially harder because of the throbbing pain in my leg. The bleeding had mostly stopped. The problem was that since I had been sitting cross-legged, I couldn't lay down because my leg was tilted to the side. Helplessly, I chuckled to myself. I wondered whether it was even possible for me to escape.

I had asked Hiashi Hyuga about how far underground the Byakugan could see because eventually, I had hoped Hinata could sniff out Root for me. I thought I had more time though. I didn't know, I should have known, that Danzo would try something like this. And if not Danzo, Orochimaru. Or Akatsuki. Until Danzo had walked into my cell earlier, I had half-wondered whether Sarutobi had decided to send Ibiki Morino after me.

I vaguely wondered what Danzo was planning if it were true that he ran because Sarutobi wanted a look in his mind. Was he just going to live underground for the rest of his life, hiding with his root operatives?

I had intended to warn Shisui. I had written a note, but I hadn't gotten it to him yet. It was basically, "Danzo Shimura will want to steal your Sharingan if anyone learns what it can do." I figured I could do at least that much for Sasuke. At this point, I was pretty sure that Danzo couldn't orchestrate the Uchiha massacre anymore but I had no idea what would happen anymore.

Depending on how long I'd been here, Naruto might have already checked my apartment. But Danzo was already a fugitive. Without a Hyuga, Naruto might never find him. It was a slim chance, but if I couldn't break out by myself, my friends were my only hope.

" _Oh, God, I'm going to die here."_

I continued in my meditation, putting the future out of my mind. I had to concentrate if I had any chance of leaving here alive.

" _Start with the pinky. Wait. Calm down. Then the next finger. The two fingers are still. Slowly, the third finger. They won't move. They can't move. No matter how much I want to, I can't move it. The fourth finger becomes still. The pain is just a signal. It's in the past. I don't have to react to it. Calm down. Breathe. The knuckles in my hand are still. They join my fingers in the stillness like a still pond without ripples. My hand has joined the still water. Now, my other pinky..."_

* * *

When I finally heard the door unlock, I panicked. I wasn't finished. It was too early. But instead of Danzo, it was only a masked Root ninja. He was carrying a first aid kit.  _"I guess Danzo doesn't want me to die yet."_

Wordlessly, he yanked out the wooden remains of Danzo's cane. I grit my teeth and managed not to cry out. Then he sterilized the wound and, with a pair of surgical tweezers, he extricated stray splinters of wood before palming blue light over the wound.

"Thanks, buddy. I owe you one. Say, could you do something about the lighting in here? I think someone forgot to change the bulb." For as much as it hurt when he plucked wood splinters from my flesh, my leg already felt much better. A dull throb was way better than the stabbing pain that coursed through my leg every time I breathed.

The masked nin ignored me as he worked.  _"Would probably kill me if I tried anything."_  So with my leg free, I lay on my back for the first time in hours and started to hum to myself. I often felt that the silence of Konoha was overbearing at times and without anything to remind me, I couldn't remember anything more than a few snippets of songs or lyrics from my old life. By the time I had realized that I was craving music, it was too late because I had forgotten nearly all of it. The theory I knew pretty well. But I never had time to try to write new music. What little I did remember, I cherished.

"What are you doing?" the medic asked. His voice was young. Probably a young teen.

"Hmmm... _on the first evening, a pebble, from somewhere out of nowhere, drops upon the dreaming world_...hmmmmmm," I continued to lazily hum. It was a nice break from the hours I had spent meditating and ignoring the wound in my leg.

Sternly, he ordered, "Tell me what you are doing, now." He had the point of a kunai held to my throat.

"Woah, I'm just singing a song. I take it you're not a music lover?" I let out a shallow laugh.

He pressed the kunai against my skin. "Explain."

" _Shit. How do you explain music to someone who has no prior exposure?"_  It was a very tense moment while I thought of what to say. "Music is a form of art, like drawing or writing, except the medium for one's creative ideas is sound. Someone who is really good at making music can convey all sorts of emotions and feelings. Human beings naturally find music enjoyable in the same way that one can enjoy the taste of delicious food," I explained in 'teacher' mode. Music was a rare treat in Konoha. Down here, it must have been non-existent.

It took him almost a minute to remove the kunai from my throat. "You may continue," he told me as he finally returned to treating my leg.

My medic buddy had killed the mood but, there was one song I knew that felt appropriate, given the situation of my life.

"Hmm, hm, hm hm, hm, hm hm,  _cultivate your hunger before you idealize, motivate your anger to make them all realize..._ " I started to sing, impressing myself that I knew most of the words. Meanwhile, I could only wonder what kind of face the Root member was making behind his mask.

Eventually, the medical nin said, "That is all I am able to do. Do not attempt to walk or run or else you may permanently lose the use of your leg." He put away his meager array of medical tools and left as silently as he arrived, only glancing back for a moment as I waved goodbye.

" _Well, that's a bummer,"_  I thought to myself as I sat up. Indeed, when I tried to move my leg, a sharp, unnatural pain shot up my calf, almost like a cramp in my lower leg. At least it was fleeting, and not a constant reminder of a gaping wound.  _"I guess Kabuto was the only proper medic Danzo had."_  It made sense, given that Danzo mostly recruited orphans and ANBU.

I ran my fingers over the wound. Other than the dried blood encrusted into the fabric of my hakama, it felt normal. And as long as I stayed still, there was no longer any pain. That meant that I had a chance, a slim chance, of killing Danzo. And if I was really, really lucky, I might survive.

Once again, I returned to meditating.

* * *

I don't know how much time passed. I didn't get hungry, although I did need to sleep. Sometimes, I could almost swear I was seeing natural energy wafting in the air. But then I'd realize I was lying on the floor and had been dreaming.

It might have been days. Eventually, it became second nature to still my body from my head to my fingers to my toes. I was the statue on top of the mountain, existing before and continuing on through time, one with nature. Even my breathing was united with the rhythm of the world, like the lotus floating upon the motionless pond, creating no ripples, both resting upon the pond and being a part of it.

But I did not want to draw the natural energy into myself. That would be suicide. I might have beginner's luck on my side, but I wasn't stupid enough to try to learn senjutsu by myself. It probably would have defeated the seal that was draining any chakra I produced but I'd have long turned into a statue before I could manage that.

I could feel it. During the longest stretches of meditation, when my mind no longer wandered between thoughts and my entire focus was set upon sensing the world around me, I could feel the life in the ground and in the air. Its majesty called to me, insidiously asking me to return to it. I was a drop of water and it was the sea.

With my being, I reached out to it. It didn't always work. If I tried to gather it too quickly, it would fade away, like trying to see a floater in my eye. But when that happened, there was nothing to do in my empty, dark room but try again. And with every try, I came closer to my goal. If I could just gather enough natural energy in one spot, maybe I could turn Danzo to stone.

* * *

Fortunately, it was a long time until my cell door opened again. But I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I opened my eyes for a moment to make sure it was Danzo. I could sense his presence already but I wanted to be sure.

Even before he began to speak, I was already delicately funneling natural energy into his body.

"What? What is this? I...arggh..." Danzo's cried out, his normally sonorous voice turning to gurgling that eventually became silence. Somewhere in my mind, I registered the sound of his death throes but to me it felt distant. There was nothing on my mind but manipulating the latent life energy of the planet into his body.

Eventually, I felt nothing but the single Root agent that had accompanied him. I opened my eyes to see the frozen outline of Danzo against the light of the open cell door. The mask of the Root agent was facing the stony visage of Danzo which was frozen in a horrific expression of surprise and panic. Then the Root agent turned to me and began to pull out a kunai.

Before either of us could do anything, I heard Danzo furiously growl elsewhere in the darkness of my cell, "What have you done, child?"

" _Fuck me, he's still alive."_

In an instant, Danzo kicked me into the wall behind me. Other than the intense pain blowing through my body, the last thing I knew was the taste of blood in my mouth.


	39. Chapter 39

I heard voices.

"We have to go."

" _That was Danzo,"_  I thought to myself. And then I realized I was in pain. Crazy pain. It felt like my chest was a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. And my face was felt like someone had taken a searing hot cattle brand to it. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe.

"The patient is in critical condition. If we move him now, he will die."

" _Sounds young. Buddy Medic? Is that you, Buddy Medic? You're a good friend, Buddy Medic. Keep up the good work."_

I tried to open my eyes but that just made the searing pain flare into unbearable agony. All I could do was try to lie still and evaluate my situation and pray that the pain would stop if I just stayed still enough. It was so hard to focus my thoughts. It was like time was moving in small spurts and it took everything I had to keep up.

"That is irrelevant. If Orochimaru can't help him, he'll die anyways. The ungrateful brat stole my best medic. Even if the boy dies, we can still give Orochimaru the body. I'm willing to bet the child has a fascinating bloodline, even if nothing came of his parents."

" _Parents? Orochimaru? Fuck. What is going on?"_

"He's awake."

" _Buddy Medic, why did you betray me? I thought we were friends. Oh, god, it hurts. Why does it hurt so much? I thought Danzo only kicked me once?"_

"I thought you gave him enough sedatives to last until we were out of Konoha."

" _Damn. Danzo's angry."_

"I did, Danzo-sama."

" _Please, more painkillers. God, it hurts."_  I seriously wondered if Danzo had broken every single one of my ribs.  _"Wait, no, leaving Konoha is bad. I can't...someone...help..."_

"There's no time left. He'll be dangerous if the sedatives wear off completely. We will leave him here. Let's go. If he's lucky, the Konoha nin will find him soon."

"Why leave him alive?"

"He might be of use in the future."

* * *

I woke up in a bed. No more shackles. I still couldn't see though. I tried to sit up.  _"Fuck. Still hurts. Bad idea."_  At least it wasn't so bad if I didn't try to move.

"Do not try to get up." That particular grizzled voice sounded like the Hokage. "You nearly died, Haru-kun. I would ordinarily let you rest but I have some urgent questions that you may be able to answer."

I let out a pained groan.

"Do you know why Shimura Danzo would abduct you?" Sarutobi asked me.

"Cause...he thought...I knew things...he wanted to know."  _"Yeah, talking hurts like a motherfucker."_  I tried to open my eyes but my right eye felt completely swollen shut. And it was too bright for my left eye in the hospital room, so I kept it closed.

I tried to mold chakra. I felt a palpable relief when it didn't immediately disappear. I let it seep away from my body, using it to see how many people were in the room with me. Apparently I had a lot of visitors.

"What kinds of things did he want to know?"

Instead of trying to talk, I just answered with an area of effect genjutsu that should grab everyone in the room. It would be easier than trying to wheeze out words between painful breaths.

Illusionary Haru would appear to sit on the bed as a ghostly figure clad in my favorite black coat. Whoever was nearby would hear me saying, "Danzo never really got around to interrogating me. I kinda made him angry and he stabbed me in the leg and then stormed off for a long time. When he came back eventually, I tried to kill him but I failed and that's probably how I ended up like this." Illusionary Haru shrugged in my place.

I heard a few gasps and a few whispers as the peanut gallery figured out that I was using genjutsu. Through the genjutsu, I asked, "Who is here anyways? It hurts to open my eyes so I can only hear you. I'm only using this illusion to talk to you. It can't hear or see for me."

"Hey, Haru." That was Naruto. It cheered me up to hear his familiar scratchy voice.

"Haru-kun..." Hinata trailed off with worry in her voice.

I heard Hiashi introduce himself too, "This is Hyuga Hiashi."

"Welcome back to the living, Haru-chan," said another adult voice belonging to Inoichi.

"Yamanaka-san? Does that mean Ino is here too?" my genjutsu clone asked.

"Ah, Ino-chan had to watch the store. I promised I would tell her when you woke up, but the Hokage ordered me to stay," Inoichi said wistfully. "You'll fill in Ino later, won't you?"

Sarutobi interrupted the greetings to ask, "Haru-kun, what did you mean when you said you tried to kill him?" He probably had a serious look on his face, not that I could see it.

I updated the genjutsu to speak, "Well, I had a lot of time by myself so I developed a new technique." Ghost Haru raised two fingers in a victory sign. "I'm pretty sure the technique worked, but he used a kinjutsu called Izanagi to negate it and then he kicked me really hard into a wall." Ghost Haru made a downfallen face for me.

"And how was Danzo able to use one of the ultimate techniques of the Uchiha Clan's kekkai genkai?" Sarutobi continued.

"Well, Danzo had at least one stolen Sharingan as his right eye which was why he wore bandages all the time. I don't have any idea where he stole the eye from, however. And I don't know if he had any other Sharingan elsewhere on his body. Izanagi causes the permanent blindness of a Sharingan, so at least he can't use his stolen Sharingan anymore. That's a good thing, right?" It was definitely best to try to talk through a genjutsu. I would have probably died if I tried to say all that aloud.

I heard a fist smash into the wall across the room. "Why did my brother have to die?" an angry voice asked. Then someone was yanking on my clothes, trying to pulling me upright. "Are you saying that Danzo killed my brother just so that he could have another Sharingan?" Sasuke yelled into my face from inches away.

"I don't...what?" I croaked out, trying to ignore the searing pain in my chest. Eventually, the boy let me fall back into my bed.

Sarutobi explained, "We were unable to apprehend Shimura Danzo. Apparently, he had subverted a small portion of Konoha shinobi who covered his escape from Konoha. Before Danzo left, he came across Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi. Using Sasuke as leverage, he killed Itachi and absconded with the body."

"What? Itachi? Danzo killed Itachi?" asked my illusion.

"He forced me to watch as he killed my brother. I remember...my brother telling me...to be strong..." said Sasuke, his voice filled with rage and grief.

Sarutobi continued, "Surviving ANBU reported to me that Danzo was not wearing bandages on his head as he normally does. Nor did he have any sign of being blind in either eye. You, on the other hand..."

I raised my hand to feel my face. My right eye was covered in bandages. Or rather, where my right eye used to be.

" _That motherfucker..."_


	40. Chapter 40

"So how did you find me anyways?" I had my genjutsu clone ask. Meanwhile, I just left my hand over my face where my eye used to be, as if to stop myself from trying to touch it.

Naruto spoke first, "When you didn't show up for class, Iruka-sensei asked me to go to your place and get you. I...uh...went inside but you weren't there. I kinda looked around your apartment and I found a letter in your room. It said something about that Danno..."

Hiashi interrupted to correct Naruto, "Danzo."

"Yeah! Danzo. I showed it to Iruka-sensei and then the Hokage came and asked me where I got it," Naruto finished.

I heard Hinata speak next, "Um, when you didn't show up for our, um, duel, I asked my father if he said anything to you. He told me that you asked about how far underground I could see. So I tried really hard to look for you but instead I found a lot of other people underground. I asked my father about it and..."

"I informed the Hokage," said Hiashi clearly.

Finally, I heard Sarutobi's grizzled voice, "I have to admit, I was surprised to be told that there were dozens of people so far underground beneath Konoha. Upon investigation, it had become clear that Danzo had been operating illegally underneath the village for an indeterminate amount of time." There was more than a hint of bitterness in the old man's voice.

" _Pretty much what I expected to happen if I they were going to ever figure it out. Better late than never, I guess."_

The Hokage continued, "Haru-kun, you have some wonderful friends. Take care of them." If I didn't know to expect it, I wouldn't have noticed the slight sadness in his words. As I remembered it, two old men were such good friends that Sarutobi would forgive Danzo pretty much anything, hoping that forgiveness would turn Danzo from his dark path. But this had been far too public for that to happen here.

Despite the pain in my chest and face, I turned onto my side and opened my left eye. Even through the blurriness, I could see that I was worrying everyone but I needed to be sure that Sarutobi was the only one who would see the genjutsu I was casting for him. He, alone, would hear that I wanted to talk to him in private soon. When that was over, I again lay on the bed.

"Thanks...for saving me..." I said aloud, dismissing the genjutsu. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the aching in my body.

The Hokage said, "Everybody, let us allow the boy some rest." I heard the shuffling of footsteps and several reluctant goodbyes. Soon, the door closed and all I could hear was the muffled sound of conversation outside. I, too, followed the Hokage's advice and soon fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, I could feel something sharp against my throat. I opened my eye. In the moonlit hospital room, a dark-haired boy was threatening my life.

"What did you do to the Hokage?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" I said groggily.

"You sent your chakra into the Hokage! What did you do?" he demanded to know.

Before I could answer, I heard the familiar grizzled voice of the man in question order my assailant, "Sasuke, let go of Haru."

"Hokage-sama! What are you doing here?" Sasuke said, dropping his kunai in surprise as the Hokage appeared from the shadows of the room. With a burst of speed, the experienced ninja grabbed the kunai before it clattered on the floor.

"Haru-kun asked me to meet him to talk about something in private. Apparently, I have impeccable timing," Sarutobi said with a lazy chuckle.

I cast a genjutsu on the Hokage to tell him, "Sasuke shouldn't hear what I need to say," but Sasuke grabbed my hospital gown, breaking my concentration partway into the message.

"What are you doing to the Hokage? You're doing something to him!" Sasuke yelled into my face unpleasantly.

I made another genjutsu clone of myself to speak to the both of my visitors. "It's just a genjutsu, Sasuke, so I can tell the Hokage something in private."

"But it's not the same as what you're doing now. It looks completely different," Sasuke said, his worry that I might be attacking the Hokage giving way to curiosity.

"Are you saying you can see my genjutsu, Sasuke?" illusionary me asked.

The Hokage suddenly explained, "Ah, Haru-kun, I suppose you haven't noticed that Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan."

" _Oh. No wonder."_  Through my genjutsu, I asked, "Is Sasuke using the Sharingan right now?"

The Hokage answered, "Indeed. It is the first time in Uchiha history for a newly developed Sharingan to have three tomoe in each eye. I only wish it hadn't required such a great cost."

" _That doesn't sound right. Didn't Sasuke get his third tomoe when he fought Naruto?"_

My illusion spoke to the two of them, "What I'm about to say to the Hokage is information that must be kept absolutely secret. I know you want revenge for your brother, Sasuke, and I will help you attain it. But right now is not the time."

"I will kill Shimura Danzo without your help." I could barely see Sasuke glaring at me, a sliver of moonlight revealing the anger in his expression. His eyes were dark, however, having escaped any trace of illumination underneath his bangs. "If you don't tell me what you know about him, I'll tell the Hokage what you said to me when you were in detention with Naruto. Then we'll see how well he trusts you."

" _Goddamn my ridiculous mouth. What the fuck did I even ever mention the Sharingan to him? I don't even want the goddamn thing. And now I have to find some way to steal Itachi's eyes back from Danzo and Orochimaru. And they aren't even Mangekyo yet."_  It seemed like an insurmountable task. So I decided to just not worry about it. It wasn't like there was anything I could do at the moment.

"I believe that Danzo intends to find refuge with Orochimaru," my illusion spoke to the two of them.

"Who is Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked.

I ignored him and continued my informal debriefing, "According to my memories, they have a working relationship at this point. He had intended to use me as a peace offering to enter Otogakure, which I think is Orochimaru's personal hidden village, but I was too grievously injured to be moved. Since I'm only useful for my innate store of information, he decided it wasn't worth the effort. As far as I could tell, there was a problem with the sedatives his amateur medic used and he was extremely pressed for time. And if the drugs they gave me had worn off enough, I'd simply attempt to kill Danzo again by flooding his body with natural energy."

Sarutobi looked horrified as I watched him in silence, waiting for my illusion to play out in his mind.

"I don't know why Danzo took my eye other than to replace his stolen Sharingan that he sacrificed for the Izanagi. As far as I know, it wouldn't give him any special abilities like a Sharingan or Byakugan. I just have normal eyes. And I can't think of any reason Danzo would attack Itachi, other to obtain more Sharingan eyes, which he may potentially give to Orochimaru."

"Who is Orochimaru?" Sasuke repeated himself loudly, frustrated at not fully understanding his brother's killer's motive.

"Orochimaru was one of my genin students, when I was a jounin. He was a genius shinobi who became obsessed with researching ninja techniques and...eventually left the village and became a missing nin," Sarutobi said regretfully. "Haru-kun, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why did you keep it to yourself for so long if you truly know such things? Otogakure is run by Orochimaru? And he's working with Danzo?"

I would have laughed if I wasn't afraid of accidentally hurting myself.

"Do you remember when we first met, Hokage-sama? Do you remember who was in the room with you? And even if you would have believed me, if I told you information unrelated to Danzo, you would have probably discussed it with him anyways. Or he would have used the secret underground organization he was building within the ANBU to find out. And then he would have just kidnapped me sooner.

"And what Yamanaka Inoichi-san saw in my mind is likely only a portion of what I actually know. If my mind were a book, he would have only seen the illustrations and been unable to actually read any of it. The truth is that I understand full well the meaning and circumstances of the visions he saw. The problem is that there are many different versions of Konoha in my memories, all of their timelines diverging from the one that I most vividly remember. They're almost like warnings that the slightest change can have immense consequences. And they warn me that I should never assume that what I remember about this world is true, since in my own memories, I never existed at all.

My illusionary self continued, "If I told you that Madara Uchiha is alive today and plotting to steal all nine tailed beasts in order to ensnare the entire world in an eternal genjutsu, would you believe me?"

"That...that's preposterous. Are you telling me that is the truth?" The Hokage asked hesitantly, as if he didn't want to believe me.

"I have found nothing so far to contradict my memories. Nor have I yet found any proof. So the only thing I can do get stronger. That way, if it does happen, I'll be ready. By the way, do you know of a shinobi called Yakushi Kabuto?" my illusion asked.

"That name is unfamiliar to me," the Hokage answered. That one would be hard to explain so I changed the subject.

"Do you know of Uchiha Obito?"

"I believe he was on the same team as Kakashi Hatake and Nohara Rin. Why do you ask?"

"If my memories are correct, he is working for Madara Uchiha and has assumed his identity. He will take control of a criminal organization called Akatsuki comprised of S-rank nin. And through them, in the future, he will capture jinchuriki and extract the tailed beasts inside them. Madara intends to combined the nine tailed beasts to recreate the Ten-Tails and become its jinchuriki, like the Sage of the Six Paths once was."

"I see. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Hokage-sama, Danzo is a flawed man. He believed that he had to be cold and emotionless to be a proper shinobi. He believed that he had to do the things that you weren't capable of. And in the name of Konoha, he did terrible things. He would have tried to kill you eventually, mistaking your preference for cooperation and peace to be weakness. And you would forgive him. Again and again, but as far as I know, he would never learn the true meaning of the Will of Fire."

"I know, Haru-kun. I know far better than you could possibly imagine," Sarutobi said sadly. "So, what are we supposed to do about this Akatsuki?"

"I don't know. I just thought we'd beat them up and make them stop," my clone answered with less sheepishness that I would have expressed if I were the one talking.

Sarutobi gave a tired laugh and pulled out his pipe to smoke, obviously not caring about hospital regulations. He asked me, "And why did you tell Sasuke all of this?" The black-haired boy was still standing next to my bed, dumbfounded.

"He wanted to know." I made my illusion shrug for me. "Maybe this is my way of saying sorry for his brother. Maybe I just hoped we'd get along better. But what I'm about to tell you next, Hokage-sama, is for your ears only." Never mind that my genjutsu wasn't sound-based. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but the less people who know this, the better. We'll talk later, okay?"

The Hokage hustled the stunned boy out of my room before he could protest and returned to my bedside. Then I explained to him in a single-target genjutsu exactly why Shisui's dojutsu, the Kotoamatsukami, needed to be an S-class secret. After I showed him the story of the Uchiha Massacre, I spent most of the night describing what I knew about Akatsuki and Orochimaru, as best I could remember off the top of my head. I only hoped that telling the Hokage wasn't a grave mistake in itself. After all, I only had so many body parts left to lose.


	41. Chapter 41

"It's a wonder that you survived at all. Whoever healed your wounds wasn't very skilled, but it's evident that they tried very hard to save your life. It'll be a couple months before you're fully healed. Now that your life isn't in danger, the next step is to undo some of the mistakes that were made with your initial treatment, starting with realigning the muscles in your leg. Kid, I don't envy you. Even with the painkillers, this is going to hurt," the medical ninja explained to me. I always thought their suits were funny looking but the man's expression was completely serious. "At least, other than the eye, you should completely recover. Are you ready?"

"Yes," I answered. But I wasn't ready for the jolt of pain in my leg as the man applied a glowing hand to my left calf. It was like a terrible charley horse straightening itself. I grit my teeth and tried to stay still to let him work. I was not looking forward to the next few treatment sessions. Apparently the chest muscles would hurt even more.

* * *

"Thanks again for the flowers, Ino." The small bouquets truly did a great job at livening up my hospital room. After a couple weeks, it no longer hurt simply to move or talk, and other than the bandages over my right eye and chest which made me look like a mini-Danzo, I was starting to look relatively normal.

"No problem, Haru. How are you doing with those medical textbooks?" she asked.

"Just fine. I can't let you and Sakura get too far ahead of me, after all," I said with a smile. Sakura had joined Ino in my stead for the medical classes, as I was laid up in bed and unable to attend for the time being. I felt guilty that Ino had decided to start the medical program without me, but at least she managed to coerce another friend into joining with her. It would be extremely hard for a six year old. I had planned on helping her understand the material but maybe she and Sakura could to manage on their own. Kabuto certainly didn't have any problems learning at a young age.

"Just watch. We're going to be the best medical ninja ever," Ino said with an enthusiastic grin.

"That reminds me. If you see Hinata, can you tell her thank you for me? She made me a copy of her Academy lecture notes but I wasn't awake when she dropped them off." I tended to be exhausted after the iryo-nin tried to fix the mess Buddy Medic had left. If not for those complications, I would probably have been able to leave within another week.

"Sure, Haru. Is there anything else you need? If there's anything I can do..." Ino was being really sweet because I was hurt, but I didn't need anything.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm just looking forward to going home eventually," I said.

"By the way, Sakura has been asking a lot of questions about you lately. She keeps asking if I've noticed anything weird about you. What should I tell her?" It was easy to see on Ino's face how torn she was between the two of us.

"If it's just Sakura, just tell her whatever you want," I answered with a shrug. "I might just start telling people I have a kekkai genkai, just so I don't have to explain myself over and over again."

"Haru...you haven't done anything weird to Sakura, have you?" Ino inquired with a serious-looking pout.

"Hm. I don't think I've ever even really talked to Sakura. Whenever the two of you are together, I don't really feel like intruding," I admitted with another smile and shrug.

"Alright. I have to get back to the shop. Get well soon, Haru."

"Thanks, Ino."

* * *

It wasn't unusual for me to be asleep during the day. People were less likely to notice me training in the middle of the night. I desperately wanted learn the Shadow Clone Technique. And that meant I needed to perfect the ordinary Academy Clone Technique. I didn't expect the Kage Bunshin to be any easier for me to learn than the Bunshin no Jutsu. At least, stuck in bed, I had a lot of time to practice.

* * *

After about a month and a half in the Konoha Hospital, I was finally ready to go home. I had opted simply to receive a prosthetic eye in lieu of an actual transplant, but not before making sure that a future transplant was possible. I now sported a nifty eyepatch like Ao of Kirigakure wore. Not that most people would notice through the genjutsu I placed on it to make it look like I had two normal eyes. That meant I would have two permanent genjutsu to maintain. Although my original extra-dark shadow illusion was more of an exercise than a deception.

Naruto had brought me my coat and clothes. I was a t-shirt and pants kind of person underneath my stylish and flattering Black Coat. He explained that he had gotten them a long time ago in a failed attempt at having Kiba and Akamaru track me down by scent. I was just glad that I didn't have to leave the Hospital in a disposable gown.

The first thing I noticed was that my door had been replaced. A sense of dread filled me when I turned the handle and walked inside my apartment.  _"Why is everything wrong?"_  It was as if every one of my belongings had been rearranged in my absence. To anyone else, my apartment would have looked tidy, if a bit dusty. To me, it was complete mayhem, as if someone had attempted to clean up without knowing exactly where anything went, which made sense if Naruto had been searching for clues about my disappearance.

I immediately went to the kitchen and opened my fridge. It was nearly empty except a few bottles of condiments in the door and a lone tub of miso in the back. There was no jar of grape jelly. I stared at the scant contents of my fridge for a full minute before closing the refrigerator door in disgust.  _"Motherfucker..."_


	42. Chapter 42

After discovering that my fridge had been raided of all its perishables and the one jar of grape jelly, I spent the next couple hours reorganizing my apartment. All of my coded notebooks had been stuffed into my bookshelf haphazardly. In my room, my clothes had been placed in the wrong drawers. At least the kitchen had been sensibly organized.

Afterward, I lay on my bed, glad to finally be out of the hospital. I did not expect the banging that came from my front door. I hopped out of bed, noting that my body had become stiff when I wasn't allowed to train. I shouted at my door, "Who's there?"

"Hey, Haru! It's me, Naruto!" Naruto pounded on my door again. "Let me in!"

I unlocked the door and Naruto walked in with a satisfied smile on his face. He looked over my apartment and said, "Hey, we did a pretty good job, didn't we?"

I asked politely, "What are you talking about Naruto?"

"Oh, uh, after I told the Hokage 'bout that note you wrote, he had some of those masked ninja look through your apartment and they made a huge mess. He was just going to leave it for you to deal with but since you were in the hospital, Ino said we should help by cleaning your apartment so you wouldn't come home and find all your stuff on the floor. I kinda forgot we did that, since it was a while ago. I figured she told you already."

I continued to smile serenely, lest I have a mental breakdown. "So you and Ino cleaned my apartment?"

"Yeah! And not just us. Hinata helped out too. And Ino's friend with the pink hair, Sakura, she helped. Man, she's really cute. Ino said she likes that Sasuke jerk though," Naruto said with a pout flickering on his face for a second. "It was a total mess in here. It took us an entire day to put everything away. We even fixed your door for you!"

"Naruto, did you guys find anything weird in my apartment?" I asked blankly. My mind was too busy to make proper facial expressions, trying to imagine what could have happened to the tiny black jar that supposedly held genuine Sharingan.

"Not really, unless you count some of the stuff the girls found in your refrigerator. It makes me glad I was in charge of your room." Naruto shivered as he remembered that day. "I couldn't believe that your cooking could turn into...that...stuff..." He suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes. I tentatively reach out to put my hand on his shoulder, which seemed to snap him out of it.

I spoke, "Hm. I guess I should say thanks. You know, it's been a long time since we last went to Ichiraku's. And I don't have anything to eat here. Do you want to get some ramen?"

Naruto instantly brightened. "Yeah!" He added with a grin, "As long as you don't get kidnapped again."

" _So Ino, Hinata, and Sakura were looking through my fridge. I guess I'll talk to them later."_

* * *

On my first day back at the Academy, I had arrived early, as I normally did. Despite the abundance of empty seats, Shino Aburame sat down next to me.

"Hello, Aburame-san," I said.

From deep within his high-collared shirt and beige hooded jacket, he quietly responded in kind, "Hello, Haru-san."

" _Oh, am I in his seat?"_  I tended to just pick my seat randomly since I was usually one of the first students to arrive.  _"Whatever. I don't need to move. He'll be fine for today."_

"You look different," he said. He was looking directly at my face.

"Ah ha, so you noticed?" I thought my genjutsu was pretty good but perhaps it wasn't as good as I thought. It was impressive that he noticed something was off.

Impassively, Shino asked, "Is something wrong with your eye?"

I simply gave up and dismissed the genjutsu, letting him plainly see my black eyepatch. "How did you know?"

He turned forward, as if to watch the kids entering the classroom. "Because your pupil doesn't expand or contract properly."

" _Huh."_  I reapplied the genjutsu, not wanting to stand out because of my missing eye. Before I could think of something to say back, Ino sat in the other empty seat next to me.

"Welcome back, Haru!" she said with a cheerful smile. I couldn't help but smile back, even though I had been taking beginning medical classes with her and Sakura. But I usually had little to contribute to their conversations, so I tended to hang back during those classes to give them some space.

"Hello, Ino. Naruto told me that it was your idea to clean my apartment. Thanks!"

"No problem, Haru. It was the least I could do."

"Why didn't you tell me you guys cleaned my apartment for me?"

Ino got a faraway look in her eyes. "I...I think I forgot for some reason."

"Ino, are you okay? Ino?" I was concerned. She had completely stopped moving. I gently shook her shoulder.

Ino seemed to snap out of her stupor. "What? Oh, hello, Haru! Are you excited to be back at the Academy? It's been almost two months, hasn't it?"

"Ino, did you happen to find anything unusual in my refrigerator?" I asked.

She paused for a moment before hurriedly waving her hand and saying, "Hahahaha, there's no such thing as monsters. I definitely did not see anything like a monster in your refrigerator. It definitely wasn't alive. It wasn't moving. I'm safe now. It can't hurt me..." Ino suddenly tugged on my arm to pull me closer. Intently, she said, "Please, Haru, promise me you won't ever get kidnapped again."

"Okay, Ino. I promise."  _"I guess whatever she found, it wasn't an eyeball."_

"Did you know, Haru? They decided to have everyone take kunoichi lessons. It's full of boys now!" Ino informed me, changing the subject.

"You must be enjoying yourself," I teased. "Are you enjoying Support and Subterfuge, Shino?"

He replied as gruffly as a six year old could, "It's interesting."

By then, the classroom had filled and Iruka and Mizuki were standing at the blackboard to start class. Noticing me, Iruka yelled, "It's good to see you back, Haru. Do me a favor and try not to get detention on your first day back. Alright everyone, class is starting..."


	43. Chapter 43

During lunch, I tracked down Hinata among the students on top of the Hokage Monument. She was eating and laughing with Shikamaru and Chouji and a couple other students.

I tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "Hinata, I heard that you helped Ino clean my apartment while I was in the hospital."

"Oh, yes, um, I hope I did a good job. I mostly just tried to clean up your bookshelf. I hope you don't mind that, um, I looked at some of your notebooks while you were gone," Hinata admitted embarrassedly.

"It was fine, Hinata. I just wanted to know...You didn't take anything from my refrigerator, did you?" I asked. Shikamaru was already eyeing me suspiciously and I wanted to put off explaining my long absence to anyone at the Academy for as long as possible.

"I remember that I was about to open your refrigerator and then I remember waking up in your bed. And by then everyone else had taken care of it already. I don't think I took anything out though," Hinata said, struggling to remember.

"That's okay, Hinata. It probably got tossed out with everything else. I just wanted to say thanks for cleaning my apartment. And please, explain to them the situation so they don't get the wrong idea," I said, bowing out of the small circle of students.

* * *

During what had previously been called kunoichi studies, I glanced over to where Ino and Sakura were sitting. Neither one of the girls were acting suspiciously. Naruto was sitting behind the two of them, exhibiting subtle signs of lovesickness.  _"Poor guy. I'm surprised it started so early. Oh, well, not my problem."_

* * *

After a couple months of being disallowed from physical training, my training weights felt a lot heavier. I had been too busy with shopping and cleaning the day before. I was looking forward to some proper training.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the one to approach me after the Academy classes had ended. I noticed her following me as I walked to the training grounds, which justified my newfound paranoia. I resolved to ask Iruka later whether there was a better way to sense other presences than smothering them in chakra. In the meantime, I covered my face with my hood and ignored her until we reached somewhere private. The six year old girl tried her best to follow stealthily.

* * *

I started to play with an ordinary Rasengan attatched to the end of a chakra string like a yoyo ball. I remembered how long it had taken me figure out how to 'tie' the chakra around the volatile storm of chakra.

" _Why can I control my own chakra so well but still not manage to make it fly?"_  I should be able to manipulate the flight of a Rasengan without chakra threads if I'm able to so easily keep it in my hand. I could feel my chakra in the Rasengan as the sphere flew, as if it were a part of my body. But when I released the chakra thread, I could control it no more than an ordinary kunai.

It was interesting that my Rasengan didn't immediately rip through my net of chakra strings as if they were wet paper. The only thing I could figure was that the chakra simply knew intuitively what I wanted it to do. I had no idea why I could accomplish some tasks with chakra, but not make it do anything. What frustrated me the most was all my failed attempts at walking on thin air. If you could walk up vertical surfaces and walk on water, why couldn't you simply use chakra to step on the gaseous molecules in the air? Or, better yet, why couldn't I fly just like in Dragonball? I knew it was possible here but I had no idea how to do it.

Eventually, I got tired of playing with my leashed Rasengan and flung it into a tree, decimating the wood into a shower of splinters.  _"Yeah, definitely a good idea to make them a projectile."_  I heard a loud, shriek from where I assumed Sakura had been watching me.

"Oy, are you done hiding now?" I yelled toward her.

Sakura walked out from behind a tree. Today she was wearing a sleeveless red shirt and khaki almost-pants. At realizing I had forgotten the word for capris, I thought to myself,  _"I've finally become one of those ninja that wear nothing but the same clothes all the time."_

I could tell she was trembling as she stood across from me. She might have been trying to come up with the right thing to say to me. Personally, I was just annoyed at the length of the awkward silence so I decided to set the tone of the conversation myself.

I pulled back my hood and said, "Just go ahead and ask me already."

The young girl in front of me pulled out a tiny black jar covered in seals. "What is this?" she asked seriously.

I rubbed my temple in frustration. "Did...did you really just bring that with you? You found a highly suspicious object in my grape jelly, you took it without telling anyone else, and then you carried it around all day just to show it to me, the person whose refrigerator you took it from, hoping that I'd explain just what it is you stole?" I should have played it cool and said 'Where did you find that?' but I was too astonished at Sakura's decision-making.

"Yes," Sakura answered, not realizing I had been making fun of her. "What is it?" she asked again as she gripped the container tightly in her fingers. "It looked like eyeballs."

"Wait, did you...did you open it? You opened it?" I asked, wide-eyed in shock.

"Was I not supposed to? Are they really eyeballs?" she asked in bemusement.

I fell to my knees, unable to look at the innocent little girl because I was laughing and sobbing at the same time.

"I only looked at it a little. I didn't touch it or anything. I thought it was creepy so closed it right away. Why did you have eyeballs in your refridgerator?"

Eventually I overcame my hysterics and, curled on the ground, I said, "They were a present."

"What kind of person gives eyeballs as a present?" Sakura asked, looking at the tiny jar.

"Honestly, I have no idea."

"I don't like you," she said with a sneer. "You don't make any sense. If someone gave you eyeballs, why didn't you tell an adult? Who has eyeballs in their refrigerator? Why would you put them in your grape jelly?"

In my head, grape jelly simply reminded me of the vitreous humor of the eyeball. Apparently, trained ANBU missed a pair of Sharingan but a six-year-old had found it. I sat in a cross-legged position and asked, "Sakura, you and I both know that came from my fridge. Why did you decide to keep it?"

She seemed to be taken off guard by my question. "Well, Hinata had fainted and Ino and Naruto didn't want anything to do with your fridge. It was really messy. I thought only my parents could forget about food for that long. I guess it made sense cause you were in the hospital but...hey, don't make me change the subject! Explain why you had this in your fridge!" she demanded, holding the ominous black jar at me.

I raised my shoulders, still keeping my hands on my ankles. "Like I said, they were a present from someone. I had two perfectly good eyes at that point so I just hid them as best as I could. After all, it would be hard to explain to the Hokage why I happened to have a tiny jar of Sharingan eyes on my bedside table. And now you have them. So what will you do with them?" I dismissed the genjutsu on my eye patch and stared at her with my one eye.

Again, Sakura seemed confused. "What are Sharingan? Is that like what Sasuke has?"

I sighed. "Yeah, it's like what Sasuke has." This conversation was excruciatingly tedious. "So what do you want? Are you going to tell on me and show all the adults how you unmasked what a terrible person I am? Or are you going to give it back? You never know when a spare eyeball can come in handy."

"Why...why is Ino friends with someone like you?" Sakura asked in horror, looking down at the jar in her hands.

"I don't know," I said blankly.

"Ino said that you almost died. But whenever I saw you, you never acted like someone who almost died. In the hospital classes, it was like you had just broken a leg or something. I don't understand."

I simply answered, "I was weak. I was unprepared. The only answer is to get stronger so it won't happen again." I didn't like to remember. I just...needed to be ready. That's all I had to focus on. There was no point in resenting a clueless little girl.

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura, just keep that jar safe for me. Just stare at it in my place, wondering whether Sasuke would hate you if he learned that you had a pair of his family's eyes," I told her.

"I don't want..."

"If I ever learn that you've lost them, I'll kill you. After all, that's why Sasuke's brother died, because of the value of the Uchiha's eyes. That terrible power will be a weight upon you until the day I decide a use for them. Remember, if anyone finds out, they'll want to take them away. And then I'll come for you, I promise." I ended my threat with a smile and a genjutsu that should make her believe I had disappeared. "You won't even see me coming."

I heard her crying as I left the training grounds.  _"Why would anyone want to be friends with someone like me?"_  I asked myself without looking back.


	44. Chapter 44

The next day, Sakura came to the training grounds again. It was difficult to miss that mop of pink hair in the corner of my vision. Again, I just ignored her and continued my martial arts forms. I was glad that I hadn't become too rusty. My speed at performing the katas was almost acceptable, just slightly diminished from my long convalescence. Hopefully, when I managed to perfect the sequence of moves, I'd be able to instantly utilize the maneuvers in an actual fight. And as in all things, there were always more and more complex katas to ingrain into my muscle memory.

"Do you do this every day?" Sakura asked, sitting in the shade of a tree as she watched.

Without stopping my movements, I retorted, "You don't?"

"Are you really going to kill me if I lose that jar?"

I kicked the air fiercely. "Probably." After a few more kicks, I came to the end of the sequence. I took a moment to dismantle my chakra and lock it away before restarting the same exact sequence of punches, spinning kicks, and blocks. The plan was to slowly add weights to my chakraless state and see if I couldn't draw on pure physical energy to empower my taijutsu. So far, it seemed to be working slightly but the results were as disappointing, a cheap imitation of the real thing.

"Why don't you want your eyeballs back? Don't you need one?"

"A transplanted Sharingan is always active...and a major investment of one's chakra output. They're dead useful but...I'd have to change the way I fight...to revolve around conserving chakra to pay for the Sharingan," I informed the girl as I tested my physical abilities, moving as quickly and precisely as possible. I was already breathing hard and feeling my limbs burning. "Besides, it'd feel like cheating...and I'd never be able to beat the Uchiha at their own game. The only way I'm going to win...is if I change the rules."

" _I've spent this whole life trying to beat the three dojutsu. Everything I've done is to counter the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. If I were to use Kabuto's gift, it'd be like admitting defeat. Not to mention that it'd probably kill me if I ever found out how to neutralize chakra."_

I slipped on the lightest weights, already anticipating how difficult the kata would be with even a few kilos on each wrist and ankle. I added, "Besides, they're so tacky. I'd rather die."

Sakura continued to annoy me with her questions, "Why do you want me to keep them? Aren't they valuable?"

I quit the kata, unable to concentrate on my moves properly. "If you didn't want them, you shouldn't have taken them from my house in the first place, idiot! Now you get to take care of my precious eyes for me. Or else."

"...What are you going to use them for?" Sakura had the gall to ask me.

"Like I said, they might come in useful someday. Why? Are you interested in having a Sharingan of your own? Do you want a bit of Sasuke-kun's bloodline for yourself?"

The girl merely blushed and averted her gaze. In the back of my mind, I thought Naruto would probably find the girl's shyness adorable. Personally, I had yet to find one redeeming quality in the girl.  _"Seriously. Watching me practice like a gawking civilian."_

I walked over to her and continued walking up the tree she was sitting next to. "If you're going to hang around the training ground, you're going to train. Watching you sit there is sapping all of my motivation. Walk up this tree like I'm doing. You want to focus a steady stream of chakra into your feet to stick to the tree. You can ask me more questions when you can walk to the top of the tree."  _"Maybe that will shut her up for a while."_

She looked at me as I stood perpendicular to the tree. "Why..."

"No questions! Just do it," I commanded with an angry frown. Then I walked back down and continued my katas in newfound peace as the girl had obediently started pressing her foot to the tree trunk.

* * *

Hours later, I left the pink haired nuisance at the training ground and went to get something to eat. I don't think she noticed me leaving, which suited me just fine. By the time I left, Sakura had gotten a five or six steps up the tree, which was better than either Naruto or I had been on our first day.

I stopped into my favorite tea house, ducking under the doorway curtains. I found a seat and waited for a server to come by.

"Hello, Haru. How are you today? It's been a while." the familiar woman greeted me.

"I'm fine, Misa-san. I'd like some barley tea today. And some dango! Mitarashi dango!"

"Not green tea?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, barley tea," I answered

"You got it. I'll be right back."

I had missed this place while I was stuck in the hospital. Eventually Misa came back with a plate of glazed snacks and a porcelain tea mug. She cheerfully said, "Here you go." She left the receipt and left me to my tea.

I sipped at the hot liquid, tasting the mellow flavor of the roasted barley grain. I had only discovered this recently but the taste of barley tea reminded me of home. It reminded me that there was something I had forgotten, filling me with a sweet nostalgia that I knew had to harken back to something in the old world I had left. It was a bit melancholic but in a comforting way. And it was really tasty and refreshing. The dango was excellent too.

* * *

That evening, I stood outside the Uchiha compound. Most of the people who wandered in and out of the gates had the Uchiha fan on their back. A man with a stern look on his face noticed how lost I looked and asked me if I needed help. He was wearing a vest and had a military police symbol on his arm.

"I'm looking for a classmate of mine, Uchiha Sasuke? Do you know where I could find him?"

The man seemed to contemplate me for a while before calling over to another ninja. "Yashiro, can you bring Sasuke here?" Yashiro nodded and flickered away. The first ninja told me, "It'll only be a little while."

* * *

"Oh, it's you," the dour boy said.

"It's good to see you too, Sasuke. Come take a walk with me," I suggested.

"Why should I?" Sasuke asked.

"I have something you might be interested in." I pulled up my hood and walked away from the trickle of people entering and exiting the Uchiha compound. As I had guessed, Sasuke was intrigued enough to follow.

As we walked I asked a question I already knew the answer to, "Do you want revenge against Danzo, Sasuke?"

I could feel a tinge of killing intent wafting at me as Sasuke simply said, "I will have it, with or without you."

When I was confident no one would notice, I handed the kid a scroll, which he accepted. "Tell me when you finish learning it. Remember not to work yourself to the point of exhaustion. That technique is more dangerous to yourself than it seems. I would not make more than two clones at any time." I had already written all of my warnings in the margins of the scroll itself but it needed to be said clearly else he wouldn't listen.

"What is this?" he asked. I turned and stopped him before he opened it in the street.

"A kinjutsu. Pretty tame as far as kinjutsu go but its real value lies in its utility. It'll let you learn more dangerous techniques safely and faster than you could otherwise. I hope you understand that this is our little secret." I put a finger to my lips to emphasize my point but the gesture was probably lost in the shadow of my hood.

"Why are you giving this to me? I'm not going to give you anything in return, you know," Sasuke said suspiciously as he pocketed the scroll.

"Hahaha. People have been asking me why I do things a lot lately," I said as I thought about a particular annoying pink-haired girl. "I only ever do things because it amuses me. Because I feel like it. For now, our goals are aligned, so I will help you kill the bastard who took my eye. I can't wait to see what you do with that technique, Sasuke. Hahahaha."

" _Because we're still far, far too weak for what's to come. I can only hope we'll be ready in time."_


	45. Chapter 45

It was near the end of the first year at the Academy. Iruka snagged my hood with his finger as I was leaving for lunch. "Haru, do you still want to learn fuinjutsu?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei!" I said enthusiastically. I had been so busy with training that I had completely forgotten about learning fuinjutsu.

"I'm sorry it's taken so long. Everyone I asked until now was either too busy or uninterested in taking on a student. But I found someone who really knows his stuff. He should be back in Konoha in a couple weeks. You don't mind learning from someone who already has a student, do you?"

"That is perfectly acceptable, Iruka-sensei. Thank you!" I was truly ecstatic. Beaming from excitement, I asked, "Iruka-sensei, do you think you can find me a kenjutsu teacher also?"

Iruka gave me an uncomfortable look. "Why are you interested in kenjutsu? Normally swordplay is only taught at the chunin and jounin level. I can tell that you've worked on your taijutsu for a long time. Why not continue to improve that instead? There's a reason why we emphasize choosing a specialty after becoming a genin. If you spread yourself too thin, you won't excel at anything."

" _I just thought it would be nice to have a sword in case I ever meet the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist,"_  I thought to myself. But instead of saying that aloud, I told him a more innocuous reason, "The way I see it, kenjutsu is simply an extension of taijutsu. I'm at the point where I can get better at taijutsu simply by working at it but I have no idea how to start training to fight with a sword." Ebisu had chewed me out for having such ridiculous taijutsu way back, and I didn't have time to waste pretending I knew what to do with a sword.

Iruka seemed to see the logic in what I had said. But seeing only a child in front of him, he told me, "Just wait until you're older, Haru. You still have plenty of time before anyone is going to ask you to carry around a sword." He smiled and patted me on the head.

I couldn't bring myself to respond to that. Fortunately, Naruto happened to call my name so that we could eat lunch together.

" _At least I get to learn fuinjutsu."_

* * *

"You!"

"You..."

Naruto looked at both me and Jiraiya. "Do you guys know each other?"

"Are you really supposed to teach me fuinjutsu?" I asked.

"No way, kid. When little Iruka asked me to take on an extra pupil, I never thought you would be the idiot that drew this seal." Jiraiya pulled out a sheet of paper that was a copy of the one I had once casually doodled upon during class. "What the hell is this thing supposed to do anyways?" he growled dismissively at me, poking at the pentagram.

I shrugged. "I didn't think it would do anything at all. I just wanted to see if I could get a seal to hold onto my chakra for longer than a few seconds."

"There's no expanded form to this at all. You completely ignored all the groundwork necessary for a seal to function properly! I'm surprised that you didn't blow yourself up when you tried to activate it. What are these weird symbols anyways?"

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. "Haru? Old Man?"

The two of us glared at the loud boy and for a second the training ground was silent.

"If you don't want to teach me fuinjutsu, I'll just learn elsewhere. Just tell me one thing, Mister Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. What happens when a Shadow Clone absorbs too much natural energy and turns to stone?"

Suddenly, I felt killing intent from the large man. I tried to jump back but Jiraiya was faster and I was pinned to the ground, his large hand forcing my face into the grass by his grip on the back of my neck. "Kid, I'm only going to ask you once. Where did you learn about natural energy?" I could already tell he could snap my neck just by squeezing two fingers.

Spitting the grass away from my mouth, I answered, "I was stuck in a cave for a week. Had nothing better to do than figure it out. I know better than to try to learn sage mode on my own, so I used Shimura Danzo as my guinea pig. I guess he didn't like being turned to stone cause he put me in the hospital for two months and decided to keep my eye for himself. It's a long story."

The sage seemed to pause in thought for a moment before growling quietly into my ear, "Didn't answer my question, Kid..." Jiraiya started to squeeze my neck painfully. "Don't play games with me. Just tell me who taught you about senjutsu."

Half-choking, I coughed out, "Didn't the Hokage tell you? If not even Ibiki and Inoichi could figure out where my memories came from, how the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Old Man! Get off my friend!" Naruto screamed, tumbling into Jiraiya.

I cleared my throat and hopped to my feet. "Naruto, it's okay." I coughed again and went over to help Jiraiya pull the blond boy off of him. "Naruto!"

Naruto was still gripping Jiraiya. With his arms around the man's torso, he yelled, "Why are you guys fighting?"

Jiraiya wasn't moving. He stood still and simply glared at me as I pulled on Naruto's arm. I returned the look but didn't say anything. Eventually, Naruto acquiesced when he saw Jiraiya was no longer threatening my life.

I spoke to the sage, "If you don't want to teach me, that's fine. I'll just learn on my own. Just promise me that you'll teach Naruto." The boy turned to look at me but I was focused in Jiraiya's impassive face. "His destiny is more important than mine. But you know that already, don't you?"

If Jiraiya was surprised, he didn't show it. His scowl only broke when he asked me, "Kid, are your parents really Seishirou and Nodoka?"

"That's what my file said. For all the knowledge I was born with, I don't remember my parents at all." Not my parents here, not my parents from the old world. I had no past whatsoever. Just fragments of memories that convinced me that I had been someone else at one point, someone from another world.

"Kid, have you ever met a man named Orochimaru?" the white-haired man asked me, his eyes thin and intense.

"Not yet. But when I do, I plan on killing him." I only had five more years until I would get my chance to fight him.

Finally, he held up the seal I had drawn for Iruka. "What do these characters represent? Where did you learn this language?" The man's face was still inscrutable.

" _Cast in the name of God, ye not guilty._  It's just nonsense that I thought sounded cool. Like all my other memories, I was just born knowing it."

"Haru, you won't be able to learn sage mode by using the Shadow Clone Technique. If it gets to the point where your clone turns to stone, you will lose that chakra forever. That means you won't learn anything from it and you'll have wasted half your chakra. If you dismiss your clone before it properly makes senjutsu chakra, the natural energy will build up in your body like a poison, meaning the second failure could be fatal," he said, trying to dissuade me from trying.

"So I just need to make more than one Shadow Clone before I try."

Like an angry parent, Jiraiya admonished me, "No way, Kid! If you don't die from the natural energy, you'll die from chakra exhaustion. I won't allow it!"

"Why do you care? It's not like you're my teacher or anything," I said, throwing the man's warning back at him. Jiraiya's sudden concern seemed out of place to me. Even more confusing was his next statement.

He sighed and said, "This is my punishment for taking on Minato as an apprentice." Pulling out a scroll and a brushpen, Jiraiya said, "Let me see that Rasengan of yours."

Not knowing what the white haired man was planning, I hesitated for a moment until I remembered Naruto was still gawking at us. Jiraiya wouldn't try anything in front of his godson. Nothing permanent, anyways.

I cupped my hands together in front of me. I closed my eyes and concentrated. My breathing and heart rate slowed as I focused on the pond with the lotus in my mind. As my right hand slowly created a Rasengan, my left hand entwined natural energy into the chakra that began to storm in the sphere in front of me, like a spinning wheel making yarn. As more chakra filled the sphere, it grew hotter and hotter, reminding me of a tiny star. Eventually it received enough fuel to become self-sustaining with only a single chakra thread to maintain it.

I opened my eyes. Naruto gave me a grin as he said, "Haven't seen that in a while."

"It's not the same thing, Naruto. Do you remember when you showed me your Rasenshuriken and I told you how dangerous it was? If you want to use the Rasenshuriken without hurting yourself, you will have to get Jiraiya to teach you how to do this with your chakra."

Jiraiya stared at it. "Kid, is that what I think it is?"

I turned back to Jiraiya. "If I wanted to use it in a fight, I'd have to make the senjutsu chakra beforehand. No one is going to let me stand there long enough to gather natural energy into my Rasen-fireball. But you seemed like you wanted to be impressed. That's why I don't care if it takes me years. Even if I can only try once a day, I will learn how to use senjutsu properly."

"But Minato couldn't...Rasenshuriken? Rasen-fireball? Is it true? Did you really combine the Rasengan with an elemental manipulation?" For the first time in the whole conversation, Jiraiya seemed genuinely surprised.

"Naruto has wind and I have fire."

"And the senjutsu...Kid, I changed my mind about you. At first, I just thought you reminded me of Orochimaru. But now I see...you're your own goddamn monster." As Jiraiya was speaking, he was writing something on the scroll, using the back of a summoned toad as a table.

"Should I take that as a compliment?" I quipped.

"Heh. Kid, your file doesn't do you justice. You're even more unbelievable in person." Jiraiya slapped his hand down on the scroll, causing ink to flare out like a web of characters before contracting to the space under his palm. The toad underneath croaked and glared at him before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He rolled up the scroll and tossed it to me. "I'm not going to teach you, Haru. Too many bad memories for this old man to deal with. If you're lucky, that scroll will take you where you want to go. Just don't grow up to be someone you will regret. And if you and Orochimaru do ever meet, I hope the two of you eat each other alive, you creepy bastards." Jiraiya tried his best to look tough and unaffected. However, he didn't sound like he genuinely hated me.

"Thanks, 'Old Man'," I said happily. "And thanks you to you too, Naruto, for getting this guy off my back."

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?!"


	46. Chapter 46

"Normally this game is played with one or two sets of hanafuda. But I'm used to playing with regular playing cards. I just need to take out the kings. That leaves eight cards of each value from one to twelve."

" _Why there are kings and queens on these cards, I have no idea."_

"The goal is to get the smallest number of points possible. At the end of a round, the winning hand is worth zero points regardless of the actual value of the cards and everyone else has their points tallied up according to the values on the cards, the ace being one point and the queens being twelve points. After two hours, whoever has the least point total wins.

"Everyone is dealt three cards and then two cards, making a five card hand. The first player to go is the winner of the last hand. You draw a card, see if you win, and if you can't win with that card, you discard a card. Then the next person does the same thing until someone wins.

"If someone has a pair of cards and someone discards a card of that same value, they can call on that discard and make a three-of-a-kind. Then you put the triplet in front of you facing up and discard and continue playing with a two card hand. In this game, if you have three of the same card, the triplet is worth zero points.

"The round is over when someone completes a winning six card hand by drawing or calling on someone's discard. You win if you have  **two triplets**  or  **three pairs**. And if you have five cards and no triplets whose total value is ten or less,  **you can decide to end the game before you draw** , making you the winner of the round. If you have a triplet, the remaining two cards must equal five or less.

"In any of those circumstances, your winning hand is worth zero points. There are two other hands that you can win with that will subtract from your score. If you have a  **straight of six cards** , the total value of your hand is subtracted from your running score. If your six cards total 64 points or more before zeroing triplets, that's called ' **shooting the moon** ' and you get the total value of your hand subtracted from your running score.

"There are a couple penalties too. If you have a pair and a triplet, you must announce that you can win of someone's discard otherwise you can't call on that discard. If you discard someone's winning card and they complete a second three-of-a-kind, you get an extra  **thirty point penalty** on top of your score. If you attempt to stop the game to win before you draw because you have less than ten or five points total, and someone reveals that the value of their hand is equal or less than yours, you get an extra  **sixty point penalty**  and there is no winner that round."

I started to deal cards to the six people gathered around Naruto's kitchen table. Three cards to Sakura, then Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and finally myself. Then another two to each person around the table. I set the deck in the middle of the table and drew a card to start.

"Why am I here? You said this was a training session," Sasuke pouted haughtily as he peeked at his cards.

"Everything can be training. Right now, you need to learn how to read the emotions of other people and maintain your own composure. This game also will reveal another important quality of being a ninja," I said.

"And that is?" Sakura asked from across the table.

"Luck!" I answered, pointing my finger into the air.

"Um, is this right? What am I supposed to do?" Hinata showed me her hand.

"You want to wait for someone to play a third of this to make a three-of-a-kind. Then you try to reduce the value of your hand each turn or try to make another pair to catch someone on the discard. For now, you should discard your queens and jacks because they're the highest value cards and you want to have as few points as possible," I explained, pointing at Hinata's cards.

"Why do I gotta sit next to this guy?" Naruto asked, pointing his thumb at the black-haired kid next to him.

"Maybe you should have picked your seat better, Naruto," I said.  _"Sorry, man. I know you asked me to invite Pinkie Pie here but you should have thought ahead before sitting down."_

"Oh, I want that card!" Ino said suddenly, picking up Hinata's discard.

"Now put the triplet face up in front of you and discard," I advised. "We'll do a few practice games for you guys to get the hang of it."

* * *

Sasuke leered at the rest of us over his cards, his Sharingan activated as he intensely contemplated his next discard. Naruto had a tragic look on his face as he stared at his cards.

Hinata picked up his eight of spades and set down a trio of eights in front of her. After getting rid of an ace of hearts, she announced, "Um, I can win now."

Ino's eyebrow rose. "Already? Way to put the pressure on, Hinata," she said teasingly. The blue-haired girl merely blushed and pulled her remaining two cards close to her chest.

"You look like you're having fun, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. Her attempt at flirting merely got her an angry look from the boy. Although everyone was close in points, he in fifth place.

"Stop!" Naruto shouted nervously, showing his cards. An ace, a trio of twos, and a three. He looked over at Hinata, who silently revealed a pair of sevens. After checking that no one else had undercut his total, relief washed down his face as he exclaimed, "Yes! I'm in the lead now!"

I glanced over to the clock on Naruto's wall. It was getting near the end. The snacks that we had brought over had been long since devoured and pushed aside. I announced, "How about we make this the last round?"

"What? I just started winning," Naruto complained.

"It is kind of getting late," Sakura said. "We have to be at the Academy tomorrow. We can always just play again another time."

Ino turned to me as I shuffled for the last hand. "Haru, what did you say this game was called again?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I just know the rules." In the dimly lit room, I passed out cards to everyone.

The room was silent for a moment as everyone evaluated their hand. Eventually, Naruto drew a card and discarded a queen. It was many turns until anyone called on a card. Ino took my five. "Sorry, Haru," she said with a wink.

Soon, Naruto took my four and announced "Alright guys, I'm gonna win so hurry up and play my winning card."

Unfortunately for him, Sasuke drew a card and, with a smirk, revealed his hand. "Straight. Minus 45 points."

Naruto stared at the cards, "No way! Arggh. I was so close. So what's the final score?"

I check the sheet I had been marking all game, "Sasuke wins by five points. You're in second place, Naruto. Then it's Ino, Hinata, and Sakura."

"What? You lost, Haru?" Naruto asked, picking up the sheet. "Woah, you got 55 points in the last round?"

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, exhausted after two hours of playing cards. I had only needed one more card to shoot the moon but it just didn't happen. I said contentedly, "It's okay. I had fun."

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked, wary of sneaking around Konohagakure after dark. I liked to think that at this point, the boy trusted me somewhat. However, since I never explained the exact reason why I continued to teach him, there was always a moment of hesitation before he would comply with my requests. Unlike Naruto, who trusted me implicitly when we were growing up, Sasuke was deigned to be my student because he could see the results of my requests.

"Don't you want your prize for winning? Make sure to follow me and don't get caught." I pulled up my hood and made my way through the Uchiha compound. Stealth training was less about specific techniques and more about a variety of habits that needed to become second nature. Silent footsteps, moving through shadows, dampening the sound of your equipment, minimizing your silhouette, these were all things that were explained at the Academy but just knowing about them wasn't enough. In my case, however, being able to evade chakra sensors was a huge boon, even if I couldn't stick to walls while doing it. If Sasuke got caught, he was on his own, however. I did not want to explain to the Uchiha police what I was doing here.

Without a sound, Sasuke stuck close behind me as I came upon a regal, Japanese-styled building, complete with a torii that marked the building as a shrine. I entered the wooden double doors, stepping lightly although I was sure no one would be around at night.

Once inside, I entered the largest room and summoned my chakra into a flame above my finger. I whispered to myself, "One, two, three..." counting out tatami mats. "Sasuke, lift the floor here."

The boy glared at me but did as I asked. Underneath the large straw floor tile was a Sharingan symbol surrounded by seals. He asked me, "What is this?"

"Activate your Sharingan and examine the seals." I certainly wouldn't be able to open it myself. As much as I was doing this for Sasuke's sake, I wouldn't be able to enter the Uchiha's secret meeting place without him.

"I think I know what I'm supposed to do," he said as he began to run through a series of hand seals. It was fortunate that Sasuke managed to decode the seals because otherwise we'd have to leave empty-handed. When the slab stone removed itself from the floor, he watched in amazement as I began to descend the steps, pushing back the darkness with no more light than a candle's worth.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was another meeting hall except at the far end, there was a large inset. I began to light the sconces as Sasuke crept up beside me. "How much can you understand with your Sharingan?"

"It talks about a kaleidoscope? An eye born from the loss of that which was most loved? The Mangekyo Sharingan? I thought that was just a myth..."

"Is that all you can read?" I sat down on the floor, staring at the stone slab in front of us.

The Uchiha continued to examine the stone. "A terrible power that consumes all. Something about a princess and a tree and a forbidden fruit. I can only understand a portion of it."

I rubbed my eye and then continued to stare at the stone and the words chiseled and inked into its surface.  _"You've got to be kidding me."_  I fell backwards to lie on the floor, wondering what it meant for the Uchiha monument to be written in English. Columns of English letters in Oriental script explained what I already knew about the Sharingan, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Shinju, and how the chakra of Hagoromo Otsutsuki's was meant to be forgotten, forever disparate among his lineages.  _"What the fuck, Sage of Six Paths? And what the fuck was Madara thinking when he stole Hashirama's bloodline?"_

It was the last stanza on the slab that gave me a sinking feeling, making me question everything I had ever believed to be true about myself. Set apart from the rest of the message to the Sage's descendants, it had read in my native language, " _To thee who brings new light to this cold world, fortune and hope rest on thine shoulders. Good luck, child of light._ "

I struggled to make sense of the final lines on the tablet.  _"God fucking dammit. Is that me? But I don't have a destiny. I'm not supposed to have a destiny. Why? Why me?"_


	47. Chapter 47

After years of training, studying, extortion, and sneaky preparations for the future, we had finally become genin. The Academy was finally over, or would be over after today. My new Konohagakure headband gleamed on my forehead, although it was barely visible under my long, dark-red bangs. The rest of my hair had grown longer too, although it hardly mattered when tied into a ponytail and hidden into my coat.

"Congratulations on graduating! You are now full-fledged ninja! As genin, you have a lot of hard work ahead of you. Today, you will be assigned to a three member team under a jounin leader." Iruka looked us over with pride. Mizuki saw me glaring at him and fearfully looked away.

Ino and Sakura were squealing with each other, no doubt anticipating their team assignments. Next to me, Naruto said, "I hope I get put on Sakura's team. I think she's finally coming around to me. She doesn't punch me nearly as often anymore."

I had something else on my mind.  _"Finally, a Jounin teacher. I hope I get one that can help me with my seals. And I can finally learn kenjutsu now that I'm a ninja."_  I had tried every practice dojo in the village but none of them would take an academy student because of some regulation.

Iruka started, "Team Seven will consist of Uchiha Sasuke..."

" _Not Naruto?"_

The instructor continued, "...Haruno Sakura..."

The pink haired girl jumped up and shouted, "Yes!" before cowering back into her seat as the half the class was looking at her. Sasuke expressed no emotion, as stoic as ever.

"...and Haru."

" _What? Why? Why is not Naruto?"_  This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be done babysitting Team Seven. I cradled my face in my hands in despair.

"Team Eight will be Hyuga Hinata...Uzumaki Naruto...and Aburame Shino."

"Team Ten includes Yamanaka Ino...Nara Shikamaru...and Akamichi Choji."

I looked up. Naruto seemed to be in despair, his forehead resting on his hands on his desk. I glanced at Hinata before telling Naruto, "Make sure to take good care of Hinata, Naruto." I patted him on his shoulder.

" _Poor Kiba."_  He had been assigned to another genin team outside of the students who ate lunch above the Hokage Monument.

"After lunch, you will meet with your jounin instructors. Until then, you are dismissed."

* * *

Predictably, Team Seven was the last group left waiting in the classroom.

"Why do I have to wear this?" Sakura asked as she held the thin piece of fabric in her hand.

"You'll find out really soon. Would I ever lead you astray, Sakura-chan? Your Sasuke-kun is wearing his already." I tied my own cloth facemask over my mouth and nose, tucking the knot through my headband. The forehead protector was pulled down over my eyepatch.

The girl growled but obeyed. "You bastard, if this is some trick..."

I smiled, which was mostly obscured by the mask.  _"Too bad it's so short notice. Otherwise I could have done a way better cosplay. Does it count as cosplay if you know the character in real life?"_

The three of us sat in a row, waiting irritably for our jounin instructor. Eventually, the sliding door opened and the chalkboard eraser I had placed there fell on Kakashi's messy white hair in a small cloud of dust. The room was silent as the man paused and stared at the three young teens who were wearing masks that matched his own and staring back at him, our expressions unreadable except for our one visible eye. The three of us had pulled down our headbands to cover an eye, in imitation of our new, beloved teacher.

"Hmm. I want to say that, for my first impression of you guys, at least you have good fashion sense."

* * *

By the time we had reached the roof, I had allowed Sakura to take off my silly joke. Sasuke and I did the same, pushing our headbands up and taking off the cloth face masks. I replaced the genjutsu on my eyepatch. I couldn't tell if Sasuke had enjoyed our first meeting with Kakashi but Sakura expressed resentment in her body language.

Kakashi sat on the railing at the edge of the roof. "Let's start with introductions."

Sakura asked, "What kinds of things should we talk about?"

The jounin said, "Things you like, things you dislike, your future dreams, hobbies, stuff like that."

I decided to introduce myself first. "My name is Haru. I don't really think the things I like or dislike are very important. I don't really have many hobbies. My future goal is to kill a certain man." I was still very far away from being able to take on Madara. But it was something for me to work toward.

"Interesting. Next," Kakashi said, looking at Sakura.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. The person I like is...I mean the things I like..." She glanced over to Sasuke and started talking into her fists, "I like Uchiha Sasuke!" She squealed girlishly and continued, "The thing I dislike is this bastard right here." Her face turned cold and harsh as she pointed toward me.

"Next," Kakashi said.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I don't like. And this isn't a dream but an eventuality. I will avenge my brother and kill a certain man," he said darkly.

"Isn't that what Haru said?" Sakura asked.

"Nah, Sasuke and I are thinking of different people," I said with a cheerful visage, waving my hand dismissively.

"Alright. That was certainly interesting. Listen up, tomorrow we're going to go on our first mission, a survival exercise," Kakashi said. "This exercise is an extremely difficult test designed to weed out those unfit to become ninja. With a 66% failure rate, only nine of the twenty-eight Academy graduates will become fully recognized genin. But it seems like that won't deter any of you.

Kakashi continued, "Come prepared with all your necessary equipment tomorrow at five AM. And be sure not to eat breakfast or you will definitely throw up."

* * *

I arrived at the training ground exactly at five in the morning. The sun had barely started to rise, but in the pre-dawn light I could see the figures of Sakura and Sasuke arriving at the same time as me. A bird cawed in the nearby trees.

"What did it have to be so early?" Sakura whined.

"He's not here yet," remarked Sasuke.

I pulled out a trio of bento boxes, passing one to Sakura and one to Sasuke. I opened mine and cracked open the disposable chopsticks inside to begin eating breakfast.

"What? He said not to eat any breakfast, Haru! You're going to get us in trouble!" Sakura complained. That girl could complain about anything.

"Just eat it. Throwing up is better than not having any energy," I said. The girl watched her crush start to eat before starting to dig in herself.

"Wow, this is good, Haru. Did you make this yourself?"

"Yeah. Just be glad I didn't poison yours," I teased. Sakura blanched like a steamed vegetable until she saw me smirking.

"He has a point. You should have checked for poisons before you ate," Sasuke admonished. We had all learned how to check for additives by sight, smell, and with jutsu back at the Academy. S&S class had indeed been very useful.

"I guess so, Sasuke-kun. Shouldn't Kakashi-sensei be here though? Where do you think he is?" Sakura asked.

"It doesn't matter. It gives us time to strategize. Also, just because I know what the two of you are capable of, it doesn't mean you two know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Here's the plan..."

* * *

When Kakashi finally showed up, the three of us were playing cards.

"Good morning!" he said, waving his hand.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke said nothing, merely crossing his arms and glaring.

"Right on time," I said.

The jounin glared at me before telling the three of us, "Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around..."

"Hatake-san, would you like some breakfast? I made you a bento," I said, pulling out a black rectangular container. "If you skipped breakfast too then I can only imagine you'd be starving. We've been eating slowly to prevent nausea but you took so long getting here that we finished our meals already."

"Maa, that won't be necessary." Kakashi gave me a frighteningly evil eye. He set an alarm clock upon a tree stump and set the alarm. "Your task is to take these bells away from me by noon." He dangled two small bells from his fingers by short threads.

Sakura looked at me with concern before asking Kakashi, "Why are there only two bells then?"

"That's because one of you will fail this mission. Anyone unable to take a bell will be sent back to the academy. It could be one of you, or all three of you. You can use whatever tools you want, including shuriken and kunai, but you won't be able to take the bells from me unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"So you are our enemy then?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi answered, "Indeed. We'll begin when I give the start signal." He looked at each of us before saying, "Ready...start!"

Immediately, Kakashi flew backward, deflecting Sasuke's taijutsu attack and putting distance between himself and me. I slowly walked toward Kakashi, emanating as much killing intent as I could muster. Sakura stayed close behind Sasuke, flinging kunai attached to ninja wire behind Kakashi to cut off his escape route.

"Not bad..." the man muttered. His bells jingled as he evaded Sasuke's punches and kicks. However, he wasn't prepared for the clone of Sasuke that grabbed Kakashi from behind, immobilizing him.

Keeping an eye on both me and Sasuke, she shouted, "Sasuke! He's used a substitution technique! The real one is at seven o'clock."

Instantly, the two Sasuke dropped the fake Kakashi and bounded toward the real jounin. I continued steadily following the Copy Ninja, fully intending to destroy him if I caught up to him before my teammates. Sakura and I could heal him of any life-threatening injuries if it came down to that.

She screamed, "Haru! This isn't the time for your stupid genjutsu! Kai!"

"He's using the Shadow Clone Technique! There's more than one of him!" I shouted back. "Sasuke, I'll mark their location for your Sharingan. Sakura, don't let him separate you from Sasuke." I summoned two miniature Rasengan to point out the direction of the two Kakashi for the Sharingan user. They would be like beacons to his senses.

" _If he's breaking out the big guns for this, I might as well also."_  I continued to walk inexorably toward the duo of Sasuke, but dropped my training weights in the process.

Sakura continued to interfere with the fight between Sasuke and Kakashi, slowing down the older man's movements with potshots of kunai and shuriken that I had supplied her earlier. I could sense the other Kakashi waiting in the distance but it was best to deal with one Kakashi at a time. He only had so much stamina. We had nearly forty minutes left. If he never left the training ground, the three of us could wear him down.

Making a third clone, Sasuke had finally pinned down Kakashi who poofed into nonexistence. "Tsch, this isn't getting is anywhere," Sasuke said, dismissing his own clones. He followed my floating mini-Rasengan orb as it tracked toward the real Kakashi, Sakura on his heels.

Instead of trying to fight Kakashi with taijutsu, he instead formed hand seals, intending to obliterate Kakashi's tree cover. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" A stream of fire melted the tree my mini-Rasengan was marking, leaving only scorched, empty earth in its place.

"Sasuke! Sakura! Jump! Get off the ground!" Fortunately, they weren't Kakashi's target. He had targeted my own Shadow Clone that was emanating sensing chakra and killing intent. Kakashi's voice sounded, "Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!" as he pulled my clone into the ground. The real me was hiding in the trees with my chakra extinguished, watching Sakura's back as she supported Sasuke. "Do it now! Don't hesitate!" I ordered as my clone poofed.

Sakura, Sasuke, and another clone of myself rushed at the jounin as he emerged from the ground. My clone latched onto him to slow his movements while Sakura wrapped the two bodies with ninja wire to suppress Kakashi's arms. With a clear shot Sasuke made to grab for the bells.

Kakashi leapt into the air, summoning a shadow clone without even making a seal to intercept Sasuke. When the Uchiha tried to punch through Kakashi's new clone, it dissolved into blue, crackling lightning that rushed over Sasuke. At the same time, a flock of crows scattered from Kakashi, leaving him the only one remaining in the ninja wire.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed as she dived valiantly to catch Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you okay?" she asked the unconscious boy as she prepared a medical jutsu that would inform her of the state of his body. I flickered over to her, slightly guilty that Sasuke had gotten hurt because of my plan. Performing the same medical jutsu, I was relieved that he was seemed merely stunned and unconscious.

Standing a few meters away, Kakashi threw Sakura's ninja wire onto the ground. He stared at the three of us intently. Then he checked his belt, finally noticing that the bells had been removed from his person.

The man chuckled. "Impressive. You're the first team ever to take the bells from me. Now, which one of you three will be going back to the academy?"

I hefted Sasuke onto my back. I could get my training weights later. "Come on, Sakura. Let's get Sasuke to the hospital first. He should be okay but it's better to be safe than sorry." The girl nodded sadly and began to follow me.

"I'm never going to forgive you if Sasuke got hurt because of you, you evil bastard!" Sakura yelled at me.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, accustomed to her complaints. As we were leaving, I told the stunned Kakashi, "Someone once told me that people who disobey orders are considered trash, but people who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. I don't know if that's true. But it seems like an okay thing to believe in." I slipped a bell into Sasuke's pocket and then tossed the other to Sakura. "Personally, I just like doing things my own way."

Kakashi said nothing as we left. Despite the bright noon sun, the training ground was solemn and quiet but for the distant cawing of a bird.


	48. Chapter 48

"Hello, all. I'm glad to see you're okay, Sasuke. I think we got off on the wrong foot," Kakashi said as he came up to the three of us. Sakura, Sasuke, and I were eating the lunches I had brought. After Kakashi's bell test, Sasuke woke up just before reaching the hospital. At Sakura's insistence, he resigned himself the indignity of being examined by a medical-nin, who declared that he would be fine with a little rest.

Thus we had returned to the training ground to learn our fate and have lunch.

"Do you want some lunch, Hatake-san? I made it myself," I offered beguilingly. Kakashi stared at the black lunchbox.

"Maybe some other time. I brought my own, actually," he said politely.

Sasuke put his food down and pulled the bell out of his pocket. "So did we pass?"

Kakashi's eye gleamed as he said, "Yes, you pass, all three of you. Congratulations." Sasuke's smirk was extra satisfied and Sakura pumped her fist enthusiastically. I continued to pluck roasted vegetables from my bento, eating with as little reaction as possible. I was extremely relieved though.

He sat down across from me, in our small lunch circle on the ground, and asked, "You three showed an amazing level of teamwork and skill during your test." He tapped on his cheek. "I don't think you learned that at the Academy. Would anyone care to explain how you know each other?"

My two teammates suddenly became very interested in their lunches. Waving my chopstick in the air, I explained, "Pinkie Pie and I have a mutual friend in Yamanaka Ino. Twilight Sparkle and I have a mutual enemy."

"...Twilight Sparkle?" asked Sasuke, his eyebrow raising in curiosity.

"It's an inside joke."

"What about yourself, Haru? You're no ordinary genin. I'm especially curious how you knew I was going to attack by pulling one of you into the ground?" After Kakashi's question, my two new teammates turned to me, wanting to hear the answer too.

"I have visions of the past and future," I said with a shrug. Sasuke showed no reaction but Sakura's jaw dropped, tilting her forward from its weight.

The girl punched me in the back of the head. "Does that mean you knew you were going to be on my team?"

Sheepishly, I explain, "No, no, I don't know anything about my own future. Just hints about other people's lives. Not even everyone, just some people. I kinda figured that you and Sasuke would end up with Naruto, actually, which is why I made you do all that training. You know? So you wouldn't be completely useless."

While I fended off Sakura's attempts at strangling me, Kakashi asked, "What makes you think that Naruto would be on Team Seven?"

"Just thought it would happen," I said honestly. I had expected to be with Hinata or with a couple people outside the Rookie Nine like Kiba ended up with.

"Sasuke, you demonstrated some very impressive ninjutsu and taijutsu. However, it was clear that you and Sakura were not used to working together. And I'm not quite sure what your role in the team was, Haru."

Sakura explained, "Well, before you arrived at the training ground, Haru explained if we had to fight a single target, Sasuke was supposed to fight them immediately. I would use shuriken and ninja wire to support from a distance and split your concentration between the two of us while cutting off your escape routes. He said that he would keep an eye on the situation from a distance while making sure that we wouldn't lose sight of the target. If we were ever unsure, we were supposed to check where Haru was looking to know where you were."

"So you're a chakra sensor?" Kakashi asked me.

"A really bad one, but the best out of the three of us," I admitted.

The girl continued, "Eventually when Sasuke felt tired, he would switch with Haru and view the fight from a distance with his Sharingan to regain his strength and make sure nothing unexpected happened. That way, we would wear you down eventually until you made a mistake and, uh, we could go for the kill, he said."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Haru?" Kakashi turned his eye back to me.

"It means to complete the objective," I answered.

"One more question for Haru. Care to explain your second clone? The one made out of crows? That's how you took the bells, isn't it?"

"They're my summon," I admitted. It annoyed me to reveal one of my tricks but this was my genin team. "Sasuke should be getting his clan's summoning contract now that he's a proper genin. And Sakura isn't destined to get a summon until she meets Tsunade."

"Tsunade the Sannin?" said unsure. Kakashi's surprise was clear in his voice.

"Huh? Who's that?" Sakura asked.

"A really, really pretty woman," I answered. "And a really strong kunoichi. You'll like her."

"Welp, I guess that's it. Be at the front of the administration building at 7 AM tomorrow morning..." our teacher told us.

"Wait! I want you to teach us fuinjutsu and kenjutsu!" I shouted before the man disappeared.

"Maa, I'm a busy man. Couldn't you get someone else to do it?" Kakashi said, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Do you ever stop thinking about training, Haru?" Sakura cut in.

"Do you ever stop thinking about Sasuke?" I retorted. It wasn't my best comeback. Of course she didn't. "Hatake-sensei! Teach us kenjutsu!"

Kakashi laughed. "Haru, you can just call me Kakashi. And if you really want to learn kenjutsu, I have something that might interest you. Anyways, remember, 7 AM tomorrow you'll start your first real mission." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

In frustration, I yelled, "Arggh, he didn't teach us anything!"

Sasuke handed me his empty bento box and left. "Later."

I turned to Sakura, visibly annoyed.

"What? I'm not done yet! Even though you're an insane tyrant, your cooking is still good," she said, unwilling to abandon her meal.

I didn't bother replying and simply considered her future, wondering if she would still meet Tsunade one day. I had no idea.


	49. Chapter 49

"I've been wondering, Kakashi-sensei...Is it possible to blow up the moon?" I asked absently as the jounin arrived at the training grounds. He was only an hour late so I wondered whether he had something new planned for us today. Weeks of dreary D-rank missions were starting to get on my nerves. I only assumed Sasuke and Sakura felt the same way.

"Hm? Why would you want to do something like that, Haru?" Kakashi asked.

"It just seems easier than the alternative at this point," I said, not bothering to explain.

Kakashi ignored my nonsense. "So, how are my students enjoying the ninja life?"

Sasuke responded, "It was easier than I expected." With his cat summons, Sasuke had easily been able to find the cat of the Daimyo's wife. Between the three of us, using the Kage Bunshin trivialized harvesting field crops and other similar menial work. And my genjutsu was perfect for occupying little kids on babysitting jobs.

Sakura gave a sympathetic look, "It really has been kind of easy."

"I wouldn't mind so much if you actually taught us something for once," I added spitefully.  _"I just wanna learn how to use a sword and not get myself killed by Suigetsu. I swear if Kakashi doesn't start teaching us kenjutsu and we end up going to Land of Waves..."_

"You know, I'm starting to realize that I don't know very much about you guys. So I was thinking that we should have a little practice to get to know each other better." Kakashi dangled a trio of bells on strings from his fingers. "The objective will be the same. You must take a bell from me by the end of the time limit. Except this time, you will fight me one-on-one. If you manage to take a bell from me, well, let's just say I'll give you something good."

"I'll go last," I said. I would need some time to prepare if I wanted to stand a chance against the Copy Ninja.

"How much time do we have?" Sakura asked, raising her hand timidly.

Our teacher simply raised his hands, "Maa, who knows? Depends on when I get tired, I guess."

Kakashi tied the bells to his belt. "So who's going first? Sasuke? Sakura?"

Sasuke walked forward, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "One-on-one suits me just fine."

In response, Kakashi pulled his headband level on his forehead and opened his scarred eye, "Good luck, Sasuke." I swear the man was smiling underneath that facemask.

* * *

Sakura was weeping over the crumpled, limp, unconscious body of her beloved. "How could you, Kakashi-sensei? He was only a genin! Sasuke will be scarred for life! Now I'll never get married!"

The jounin instructor watched the scene and tilted his head. With his Sharingan eye closed, he said, "Maa, Sasuke will be fine. Anyways, he should have been prepared for a surprise attack. A ninja must see underneath the underneath."

The girl cried furiously, "That wasn't even a real technique! What the hell is One Thousand Years of Death anyways?"

Sasuke had fought head-on as he typically did, but every jutsu and summon he brought out had been countered with either an identical or opposite jutsu by Kakashi. Eventually, he had tried to incinerate the man with the Great Fireball Technique just as in the previous bell test. The Uchiha had been ready for the counter attack, but the clone performing the Headhunter Jutsu was merely a feint to make Sasuke leave the ground. The real Kakashi had performed the devastating final attack from Sasuke's blindspot while the boy was unable to maneuver in the air.

"Now you can't say that I don't teach you guys anything," Kakashi told her with a shrug. Personally, I found it hilarious. Even my shadow clone was finding it hard to suppress a chuckle as he meditated with his eyes closed and legs crossed.

Far from amused, Sakura began to emit more killing intent than I had ever inspired in her. I patted my clone on the shoulder and we moved a safe distance away. After the girl finished examining Sasuke, she stood up and faced the man who had harmed Sasuke. "Kakashi-sensei!" she screamed as she put her hands together in a series of seals.

The Copy Ninja stared at her with both eyes open, standing wide open with a posture that begged to be attacked from any of the many holes in its defense. As an outside observer, I could tell that the lack of a stance was merely a deception. Kakashi was trying to make it seem like he wasn't taking her seriously. Even when Sakura's hands began to glow blue, the jounin made no movement until she charged at him.

Sakura's taijutsu wasn't particularly strong. Personally, I thought Sasuke and myself ranked up in the high-chunin area. The unorthodox training methods I had used to make the girl slightly more bearable had only driven her to a high-genin, beginning-chunin skill level. And that was mainly after she learned that I had been teaching him, which I had kept secret from her for as long as possible.

Although she attacked fiercely, Kakashi deflected her Chakra Scalpel technique with a kunai in each hand using tiny, efficient movements. Even her deadly, glowing kicks were avoided with small sidesteps. The man made it seem ridiculously easy, although from experience I knew that Sakura could be terrifying if properly motivated. I was nowhere near using Chakra Scalpels in combat and it was hard for me to deal with her potentially debilitating attacks without permanently harming her when I occasionally went too far with my teasing.

Although it didn't seem he had tried using genjutsu on Sasuke, he tried it on Sakura, who immediately broke out of every attempt he made to affect her mind. I felt a smidge of pride whenever she would immediately shout "Kai!" at the slightest hint of an illusion, throwing shuriken at where she predicted the real Kakashi would be.

It was only when Kakashi said, "Look! Sasuke is waking up!" that Sakura dropped her focus, getting tackled to the ground by the larger man. She growled at him as he twisted her arms around her back but eventually closed her eyes and stopped struggling.

* * *

"Alright! It's my turn!" I said, excited to test my skills against a jounin. I stood up and popped the clone that was meditating and preparing senjutsu chakra for me. It took several minutes that I wouldn't have in a real fight but it was a crazy rush of power like the world was your plaything. It was what I imagined a Super Saiyan would feel. Using a clone to gather natural energy meant that only fifty percent of my chakra capacity was senjutsu empowered, but I had wanted to watch the previous fights.

"Maa, I'm tired. Haru, you fail because the other fights took too long," Kakashi said with a shrug. His Sharingan was still spinning wildly as he stared at me, however. "Since no one got a bell, no one gets to learn my special one-hit-kill technique. But I do feel that you guys are ready for some slightly harder missions, yeah?"

Sasuke was still sprawled on the ground, moaning in pain as he began to come to consciousness. Sakura was sitting next to him, her chin propped up on the butt of her palm with a grouchy look on her face. Her red dress still had dirt marring its color but otherwise she was fine.

"Alright. I won't forget this loss, Kakashi-sensei. That's one win for each of us so far. Next time, I won't go so easy on you!" I gave him a thumbs-up gesture and a wink. The older man seemed to shiver in fear slightly.  _"Psychological warfare is a valid tactic, right?"_


	50. Chapter 50

The four members of Team Kakashi stood in front of the mission assignment desk. Kakashi looked exactly as I remembered him, wearing the standard Konoha uniform and a dark face mask that showed only ever the barest outline of his expression. Under his unruly mop of slanted white hair, his headband was pulled over his left eye, leaving only a single corner of his face visible.

Likewise, Sasuke was as I remembered him too, wearing a high-collared blue shirt and shorts. He constantly had a haughty look on his face, as if evaluating the combat capabilities of everyone around him to find them lacking in comparison to himself. Whether his confidence was genuine, I had no idea.

Sakura was the only one who looked different, and that was only because she wore her headband on her forehead in this world. She had the same long pink hair and red dress. I never really understood why she always reacted so much when Ino teased her about her forehead. Then again, I doubted there was anyone who really understood the minds of teenage girls.

The Hokage sat in front of us, along with several other ninja who were concerned with managing paperwork. He looked as old as ever, glancing between us and the mission scrolls unfurled in front of him. "So, Kakashi, your genin are finding D-rank missions to be too easy?"

"That's what they said, Hokage-sama," the man answered.

Sarutobi stroked his short white goatee as he eyed us. His gaze lingered on me as he spoke, "Is that so? Well, I happen to have a C-rank mission that might satisfy your subordinates."

I pulled my hood over my face to hide my smile.  _"C'mon, Land of Waves. Give it to us, Saru."_

The Hokage called out to the door, "Come inside, please." All of us turned to see who would be on the other side.

"What? It's just a bunch of damned kids," spoke the old man carrying a sake bottle. Red in the face, Tazuna took a long swig from his drink before saying "Especially the shorty in the black coat. I didn't know they let midgets become ninja."

I couldn't help that I was short. I just hadn't hit my growth spurt yet. I was only a few inches shorter than Sakura. It kind of sucked that I basically looked like a younger, one-eyed version of my mom, or at least what she looked like in the one picture I had of the woman. I had the same unruly blood-red hair that just went everywhere, even when I tied it up in a long ponytail. I'd probably look less like a girl if I believed in getting haircuts but I'd rather just let it grow long than risk getting a shitty haircut.

I suppressed the urge to kill him for calling me short.

* * *

After finishing my preparations for the mission, I met my team at the village gates. For the first time since we met, Kakashi had decided to be punctual. From here on, it was serious business.

Kakashi greeted me, "You sure took your time, Haru. What's with the mask?"

"I just thought it might come in useful." I was wearing a porcelain mask, mostly blank with only with a stylized flame where the right eyehole would be. Under my long black coat, I was wearing metal bracers and shin guards instead of my usual training weights. Today represented the beginning of everything. And I wasn't going to be stopped by the likes of Momochi Zabuza. I had bigger fish to fry. I put my hood up and followed the rest of Team Seven out of the village.

Thus, I set out with the bridge builder and my fellow ninja on my first ever real mission.


	51. Chapter 51

Sakura and Tazuna were talking about the Land of Waves when we passed by the conspicuous puddle that held within two Mist nin. If I hadn't been specifically watching Kakashi, I would have missed his knowing glance as we walked by the ambush. I felt restless. Between my crows, my own vague chakra sonar, and my foreknowledge, I had known they were ahead of us for the past two minutes.

As soon as they sprang from the puddle, I locked down the closest one in a genjutsu before stabbing him through the shoulder with a wooden bokuto, pinning him to the ground like a butterfly specimen. I flipped away before the gasmask-wearing ninja could claw at me with his good arm.

His partner was still disoriented by the failed ambush maneuver when Kakashi sucker punched him in the gut. The second Mist ninja dropped his end of the already limp spiked chain and collapsed to the ground.

I remarked to myself, "That was anticlimactic." Then I realized that everyone was staring at me. "What? Did I do something wrong?" Other than the pained breathing of the man desperately trying to pull my sword from the corner of his chest, it was awkwardly silent.

"That seemed a bit excessive, don't you think, Haru?" Kakashi said, pointing at the struggling Mist ninja.

I shrugged. "I had to protect the client," I said stoically through my mask.

"How did you...Did you already know this would happen, Haru?" Kakashi asked seriously.

"...yes."

"Well, good job," Kakashi said, as if he would discuss this with me later. "For now, is there anything else we should know about?"

"They're the Demon Brothers. They're missing-nin from Kirigakure hired by Gato to kill Tazuna, here. The bridge that the old man's building is a threat to Gato's stranglehold on the island nation. Right now the country is too poor to afford a B-rank mission so he didn't mention that he was being targeted by Gato's ninja. Unless we help him complete the bridge, Gato will drive the country into poverty and ruin."

"How did you know all that?!" the drunkard asked in surprise.

I gave my standard answer, "I read a lot."

"Tazuna-san, that's so sad. I didn't know your home was in so much trouble!" Sakura said. "Kakashi-sensei, are we going to help him?" she asked the jounin, earnest to help after hearing so much about Tazuna's homeland and suddenly learning about its predicament.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "What do you think? Fighting foreign ninja is beyond the scope of this mission. Should we return to Konoha?"

The Uchiha looked at me before answering confidently, "As if I'd quit now and let the shrimp take all the glory." Since the fight had been over in about one second, he and Sakura had only been able to put themselves between the attackers and the client.

I taunted him back, "Haha, you've still got a long way to go if you want to show me up, Sasuke."

Kakashi clapped his hands. "It's agreed then. We continue the mission. Haru, are you sure there isn't anything else you want to tell me before we continue?"

"Gato won't rest until the bridge builder is dead. We can expect more assassins to attack as the bridge nears completion."

Kakashi sighed before starting to tie the Demon Brothers to a tree by the road.

Once we reached the island by boat, I was on full alert. It was only a couple hours of traveling on the road until I heard one of my crows caw. I couldn't sense anything when I extended my chakra outward, but that was to be expected from a jounin-level missing-nin whose specialty was silent assassination. It didn't matter that using my chakra to sense other chakra made me light up like a Christmas tree to anyone else who could see or sense chakra. Zabuza would already know where we were.

Kakashi stopped us suddenly. "I know you're there. Come out already," he yelled up into the trees.

I grabbed Tazuna and tripped him, pulling him to the ground with me as a massive sword flew through the air at us at neck level. I thought it would have been nice to catch it and take it for myself now, but it was spinning far too fast. Sakura and Sasuke and Kakashi had likewise dodged the attack.

Kakashi broke the silence. "Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, missing-nin from Kirigakure."

Zabuza was standing on the handle of his sword, the weapon currently embedded in a tall tree. "It's nice to meet you too, Konohagakure's famous Copy Ninja. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

"Everyone, stay back. This isn't someone who you can fight. He's on an entirely different level from those other ninja we saw," Kakashi warned. He gripped the underside of his forehead protector, no doubt revealing his Sharingan to intimidate Zabuza.

"I'm sure you already know why I'm here. But before I kill the old man, I'll let him watch me kill you and all your little kids," Zabuza said as he disappeared in a flicker, taking his sword with him. Sasuke's spray of shuriken landed harmlessly in the tree.

Kakashi warned Sasuke, "Sasuke! Protect the client!"

"Tsch, where did he go?" Sasuke said as a thick mist rolled in. In front of us, Kakashi's outline disappeared, obscured in white chakra-laced fog that Zabuza had summoned from a nearby stream.

I clapped my hands together. Lines of sealing ink escaped from between my palms in thin lines. With my fingers, I pried open a hole leading to the home of the crows. Thus, I called forth a small flock of black birds to call out Zabuza's location.

When they began to caw loudly, Zabuza's voice echoed out from beyond our sight, "That's against the rules. You're not allowed to know where I am until you're already dead!" More cawing sounded from behind us.

"Shit, I missed my chance to take him down with a genjutsu. Now we have to deal with his water clone. And damn, this killing intent is pretty strong."

Zabuza seemed to materialize next to Sakura, grabbing her by the neck and pulling her away. Kakashi instantly chased after him, following her screams in the fog.

My crows were cawing from three different directions. "Sasuke! Can you see anything with your Sharingan? Sasuke! Snap out of it!" Sakura's screams were getting more distant. "Fuck it!" After hiding away Tazuna under a shroud of genjutsu, I summoned my chakra into a Rasengan. "Sasuke, we have to find the real Zabuza."

"I know! You don't have to tell me twice!" Sasuke growled at me, regaining some of his fighting spirit. "But I can't see him! There's chakra everywhere!"

Zabuza's voice rang out, "Then they were all alone. Helpless little babies. I love hearing the dying cries of young ninja. It reminds me of home."

Tazuna walked forward, pulling his onion shaped hat off his head and yelling valiantly. "Enough! It's me you want! Just kill me and leave them alone."

"Don't mind if I do," Zabuza said, appearing between Tazuna and myself. With a single wide slash of his massive sword, he decapitated the old man. "What? A clone?" he shouted as Tazuna dissolved into a scattering of crows.

"Now, Sasuke!"

Sasuke charged forward with his own Rasengan, slamming it into Zabuza's water clone. Water splattered everywhere as it disintegrated from the attack.

When Zabuza's second clone appeared behind Sasuke, it too splattered into water as my Rasengan hit it in the back. Now that there was only one more source of cawing, I used the Replacement Technique with my crows to find the last Zabuza. Landing in a tree above him, this time I didn't hesitate and ensnared him in a genjutsu. I burned chakra to layer more and more illusions on top of my first one, ready to invade as soon as he broke the first illusion. I was finally satisfied when my thrown kunai bloodied his arms and he didn't wake up or revert to water.

Although I was expecting it, I was hugely pissed when two senbon impaled Zabuza's neck. I looked to the origin of the needles and saw a shinobi with long hair and a Kirigakure ANBU mask. "Thank you for tracking him down for me," said the ninja I knew to be Haku.

"No problem. You're a hunter-nin, right?"

"That's correct. Are you also a hunter-nin? I've been looking for an opportunity to kill this one for some time."

"Don't worry about it. Let me help you out." With a snap of my fingers, I created a Rasen-fireball and sent it into Zabuza, burning him alive in a fiery blaze. Haku screamed, tearing off his mask and flinging fistfuls of needles at me. I flickered around the burning corpse of Zabuza and pulled the Kubikiribocho off his back, blocking even more needles with the flat of the giant sword.

"That's not yours! Get your hands off that!" he screamed at me hysterically, his pretty eyes streaming tears.

"If you want it so badly, come and get it," I told him. By now, Zabuza was nothing but ashes, which was good because it was getting colder by the second.

I blasted through his ice mirrors with one last Rasengan, walking away as if they were never blocking my path to begin with. Never mind that I was unpleasantly low on chakra. As I walked, I blocked his senbon with my fancy new sword. The attacks stopped by the time I caught sight of Sasuke and the real Tazuna.

"Hey, guys. Let's go find Kakashi-sensei and Sakura," I said, dragging the Kubikiribocho along the ground. I wasn't hurt but I was definitely exhausted. "If Zabuza had a counter to genjutsu..." I didn't want to think about how much worse that fight could have gone. I was still too weak and unready to be happy with my cheap victory, and I felt fear in my heart as I considered how much stronger the Akatsuki would be.


	52. Chapter 52

After dealing with Zabuza, we went to find Kakashi and Sakura. Sasuke kept bugging me about the sword I was carrying over my shoulder, but I didn't feel like talking about it.

Sakura was sitting over Kakashi, her hands pumping out green chakra to fix his wounds. The jounin was resting against a tree. Nearby were the bodies of the Demon Brothers, their chests caved in and bloody.

"Where's Zabuza?" Kakashi asked.

"I took care of him," I told him coldly. I still had a death grip on the massive sword I had taken from Zabuza's corpse.

"You defeated Zabuza?" he asked incredulously. Sakura paused in her treatment, too shocked to concentrate on the technique as she also stared at me.

"Sasuke flushed out his clones and then I took care of the real one." I neglected to mention that Haku's failed hunter-nin ruse was the reason why I had the opportunity to land the killing blow on the missing-nin. It would have been incredibly difficult to preform two separate, complicated techniques simultaneously. But when Haku gave me the opportunity, I killed Zabuza. I killed him.

"That explain why his clone disappeared..." Kakashi began, explaining what happened in this part of the forest. Zabuza's water clone was using Sakura as a hostage so that Kakashi couldn't fight back. Gozu and Meizu had played with the jounin, slowly inflicting wounds and telling him how all of his students would die. When Sakura was suddenly released, Kakashi killed the brothers.

"I'm done, Sensei. How do you feel?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, much better, thank you, Sakura." Kakashi stood up. He looked at me then he looked at Sasuke. "Are you guys okay?"

Sasuke mumbled, "Yeah."

"I'll be fine," I answered.

"Well, let's keep going then." Kakashi's words were the last thing any of us said until we reached Tazuna's home.

* * *

That evening, I sat on the roof of Tazuna's house. It was nice to just take a break and let my hair down. I wasn't wearing the stupid mask. I was enjoying the feeling of wind against my face. It smelled like ocean. In the distance, I could see the bridge he was building. It vaguely reminded me of the freeways of my old life. It looked kind of pretty in the sunset.

"Is this seat taken?" Sakura asked, suddenly appearing next to me.

"What do you want, Sakura?" I wasn't really in the mood to talk with anyone at the moment.

The girl looked like she wanted to punch me for a second. She slowly lowered her fist and breathed deeply. "I just wanted to say thank you for saving us."

"What are you talking about?"

Sakura looked far away into the setting sun. "I...I couldn't do anything. And Kakashi-sensei, he said that he would protect me. I was so scared. They said that anything Kakashi did to them, they would do to me." She gulped and continued to look into the distance. "He just stood there and shrugged it off like it was nothing. Even when...he was bleeding so much..."

The girl broke into tears.  _"Oh, god, what do I do?"_

I gingerly put my hand on her shoulder. "But he's okay thanks to you, right?"

"I thought he was going to die. I thought I was going to die..." She continued to cry inconsolably.

I had no idea what to say. I squeezed her shoulder gently. "But you're okay now. Everything is fine."

"I wanted...I wanted Sasuke to save me. I want him to tell me things are okay. Why aren't you Sasuke?! Why...?" Tears continued to stream from her eyes as she yelled at me. She stared straight at me. "Haru...did you know this would happen to us?"

I withdrew my hand. I couldn't look her in the eyes as I said, "I knew we would be attacked. I thought it might be Momochi Zabuza, but other than that..."

Sakura leered at me hatefully through her tears. "I wish I never met you. I...I can't even hate you. I want to hate you but I can't. Every time you could have just told me to go away, you taught me how to be a better ninja instead. Why? Is it because you knew we'd have to fight for our lives against insane missing-nin? Is that why?" she screamed hysterically. If anyone else could hear, they weren't making themselves known.

"I don't know what will happen in the future, Sakura. The only thing I know is that there are a lot of things that might happen. A million things that might be true. That's why I...why we need to be stronger. Because I don't know what will happen."

Sakura seemed to sober up a bit. She chuckled and asked, "What about me and Sasuke? Is he ever going to..."

"That's up to you and him."

"You make it seem so easy. You would train every single day after Academy. And that's in addition to the medical program. Did you know that Ino only joined that stupid class because she has a crush on you?" I ignored Sakura's question. She continued, "But you were too busy with your ninja training to notice. What is it all for, Haru?"

I sighed and pushed my bangs up, running my fingers through my hair. "I'm just afraid, Sakura. I'm afraid of things that I hope never ever happen."

I must have frightened her because she said nothing. All I could hear was her uneven breathing, as she was still recovering from her crying, and the ocean wind.

"I thought it would be easier. I never thought that I would have this much trouble...Are we supposed to feel guilt when we kill someone?" I asked the girl.

"I don't know. Do you feel guilty, Haru? You know Zabuza was a terrible person. If anyone deserved to die, it was him."

"I don't feel guilty. I feel like I should feel guilty but I don't. That's what I feel guilty about." I stood up and walked toward the edge of the roof. The sun had finally set and the last tinges of red were fading from the clouds.

"Where are you going, Haru?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Training."

* * *

I waited in the darkness of night. The moonlight filtered through the trees piecemeal and thin onto the clearing where I stood. I wore my mask under my hood and the Kubikiribocho on my back.

"You're late," I said as I saw the 'hunter-nin' walk into the clearing across from me. He was wearing his own Kirigakure ANBU mask.

"How did you know I was coming?" Haku asked. Senbon protruded from his fists through his fingers.

"I just had a feeling." I readied my own kunai, taking a combat stance. "Far be it for me to deny you your revenge."

"You don't know anything!" he shouted, flinging a handful of needles at my head. I avoided but only barely. I felt my mask with my hand, noting the two deep gouges his senbon had made in the ceramic. It was a wonder the mask hadn't shattered completely.

" _Fuck, he's fast."_  I threw the ruined mask away. I walked closer, kunai in hand, grinning crazily. "Do you really think you can take me down?"

"You took everything from me! I have nothing left..." Haku said, faltering under my killing intent. But then he took a combat stance, steeling himself to face me. "If I can't do this, then I truly am worthless. That is why I will kill you!"

Then we clashed, metal grinding against metal at high speeds, ringing out like a staccato melody. I laughed as I deflected Haku's senbon with my kunai. "Is that the best you can do?"

"How? You're just a child! How can you be so strong?" he asked as he struggled to keep my kunai from pushing him back.

Slowly, I started to increase the viciousness of my counterattacks. "Just a kid? You're one to talk, Girly." Despite the older boy being significantly taller than me, he was losing ground whenever he tried to block my kunai. Eventually he saw the futility of trying to attack me in a straight taijutsu fight and hopped backward, beginning a series of hand seals.

"Thousands Flying Water Needles of Death!" he screamed. I jumped up, bouncing from tree to tree to avoid the deadly machinegun spray of water projectiles that came from the darkness behind Haku.

"I bet that technique takes a lot of chakra when you don't have a convenient water source nearby," I taunted, appearing above him.

"Shut up!" he growled, uncharacteristically angry. He screamed through his mask and encased himself in a dome of ice. Faster than I could blink, dozens of massive ice spears shot from the ice shield and ran through my crow clone which burst into a scattering of birds.

"Impressive. That would hurt if it hit, I suppose." I dropped down from the tree I had been observing from. For the first time, I was looking down at Haku. He was on his knees, out of breath and exhausted. Every tree in a fifteen meter radius around him was nothing more than wet splinters.

"Why? Why don't you just kill me now? Aren't you a genjutsu user? That's what you used on Zabuza, isn't it?" he asked, still desperately making hand seals with one hand. His other hand was holding himself up off the ground.

I formed a Rasengan. Without looking, I rammed it into the ice mirror forming behind me, shattering it completely. "I have no reason to kill you," I said without feeling.

Haku's voice was filled with despair when he asked, "Then why did you come if you knew I wanted to kill you?"

"Like I said, if you want to get revenge, that's fine with me. Do whatever you want. Try to kill me. I don't care. Just don't give me any bullshit about wanting to die. If you're going to tell me I took away your reason for living, then find a new one." I gripped the handle of the sword I had taken from the one person in this world Haku lived for. "Find something you believe in and fight for that. That's the one thing I'll ever tell anyone else to do."

"What is your reason for living?" he whispered, his emotionless mask staring at me.

"I just don't like other people deciding my future for me."

I turned to leave. I could still hear Haku sobbing as I left, "...Zabuza..."


	53. Chapter 53

I woke up on a futon in Tazuna's guest room. Next to me was the Kubikiribocho. I was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Apparently everyone else had woken up already because the other futons had been put away already.

"Shinobi-san, breakfast is ready," Tazuna's daughter told me from the doorway. "Also, there's someone here to see you. Don't keep her waiting too long."

I sat up and rubbed my eye.  _"What?"_  I took my sword and headed downstairs.

Haku was sitting at the end of the dining table, sipping tea. He was wearing a sleeveless pink kimono accented with purple swirls and a white obi around his waist. The kimono showed off his slender arms and was open just enough to show off his pronounced collarbones. His delicate neck was wrapped in a thick black choker. His flowing black hair was so straight and smooth and shiny that I momentarily doubted whether he was really a guy.

" _And I thought I looked like a girl."_

"You!" I pointed at Haku. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to know the name of the person who defeated my master," Haku said, lowering his tea. Tazuna's daughter brought him some food. "Thank you, Miss."

"Ooh, isn't she so cute?" the woman remarked as she continued to set out plates of food. No one started to eat. Everyone in the house was sitting at the table looking at me curiously.

"What do you mean Zabuza was your master?" Kakashi asked, studying the beautiful teen.

Haku looked into his tea. "When I was nothing but an orphan in Kirigakure, Zabuza-sama took me in. He taught me ninjutsu and I swore I would be his weapon so that he might one day bring peace to the Mist."

I sat down across from Haku. The sword on my back must have looked comically large. "My name is Haru."

"Haru. That is a pretty name," he remarked. "Haru-sama, I hope you won't be offended, but I would like to know if you are a man or a woman."

Under my eyepatch, my face twitched and spasmed around my glass eye.

Sakura laughed weakly and told him, "Haru is a guy."

Haku held his hand over his mouth in a delicate expression of surprise. "Oh. I assumed from his diminutive stature..." And then he blushed in embarrassment.

I wanted to cry. In despair, I ducked my head under my hands and stared down into the simple wooden table. I dared to ask, "Is that it?"

Haku put down his tea and spoke seriously, "Now that Zabuza is dead, I truly have nothing left. I have nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Please, Haru-sama, allow me to accompany you."

"What?" I asked in shock. Everyone else also seemed to be in various states of surprise.

"My life, my body, is yours to do with as you wish. Please...I'll do anything..." He clenched his kimono tightly and tried to hold back his tears. "I just don't want to be alone again..."

I don't know what anyone else would have done in my situation. Someone else would probably have handled it differently, probably better than I did. But being me, there was only one way I could react.

I put my hands into the air and shrugged. "Do what you want, Girly."

* * *

That night, Sakura and I laid out futons on the floor in preparation for sleep. At the moment, Kakashi and Sasuke were outside. Although Sasuke had first watch, I had several crows looking over the surrounding area just in case. It was too soon for Gato to have found a replacement assassin. Tomorrow, Kakashi and I would see if Haku's information would allow us to find Gato and 'persuade' him to leave the bridge alone.

"All finished!" Sakura said happily as we finished the minor chore.

"Alright. Night, Sakura." I slid into a futon and lay down.

The girl gave me a weird look. "Are you just going to sleep in your coat?"

"Yes." I shut my eyes and pulled up the duvet. Although I changed my clothes underneath every day, I didn't want to be caught without my coat if we were suddenly attacked.

"Weird," she said as if wearing pink pajamas on a mission was completely normal.

Haku walked into the spacious room, still wearing his pink kimono. "Haru-sama. Is it time for bed?"

"Yes," I grumbled, pulling the blanket over my head. I was suddenly joined by the androgynous teen, who decided to slip into my futon. "Really?" I asked in disbelief.

Haku said nothing as he lay next to me. Instead it was Sakura who sputtered, "What? What are you doing? It's completely inappropriate for a guy and a girl to sleep together like that!"

"Don't worry. I'm a man," Haku reassured her.

"It was still awkward when you climbed into the bath with me," I added. "I don't need help washing my back."

"I only wanted to be useful," he said.

Sakura sprayed blood from her nose all over her pajamas before fainting backwards onto the futon she had just laid out. I just ignored her and used a chakra thread to turn off the lights.

" _Girls are weird. And damn, Haku's feet are cold."_


	54. Chapter 54

I woke up in the middle of the night, disturbed by Haku next to me. Without moving, I peeked to my left to see Haku trembling and sniffling quietly. He was holding onto my arm in his sleep and whispering, barely audibly, "Zabuza..."

I tried to ignore him and go back to sleep. " _Annoying..."_

* * *

"What do you mean you're not going, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked in surprise.

The white-haired man looked at me. "However close you might be with your new 'friend', I still don't trust him. You and Sasuke should be enough to deal with Gato. Sakura and I will hold down the fort."

The surly Uchiha was spinning a kunai around his finger while he waited for us to leave. Sure, Sasuke was indeed a lot stronger than he would be normally, but I had an ominous feeling. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what to expect in the future.

It didn't help at all the Tazuna's grandson, Inari, foretold sourly, "They're not going to come back. Gato is going to kill them and we'll never see them ever again."

* * *

"So what's with that guy?" Sasuke asked me as we traveled through the trees. "Don't tell me you're into kind of thing, Haru!" he said, looking worried for himself.

I sighed, slowing the pace of travel. "Sasuke. Sometimes you have to take responsibility for your actions, for the people you've hurt. You can't just run away from it. You can't just wish it away."  _"Unlike some Sharingan users I could think of."_

He jumped ahead of me and crossed his arms as he stood in my path. "What are you talking about? Spit it out already."

" _I still feel guilty about your brother, Sasuke. And I feel guilty for taking away Haku's one reason for living."_

I pulled off my hood to buy time to come up with something truthful that I could tell the boy. "I feel like if I just abandoned Haku, something bad might happen. I don't really want to be his master or anything. I don't know."

"Is that because of your future knowledge?" he asked seriously.

"No. It's just my own intuition. As long as he doesn't get in the way, I don't really care what he chooses to do. I'm pretty sure he'll stop following me around like a lost puppy eventually," I said dismissively.

"What if he doesn't?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrows.

I shrugged. "At least he's cute," I said chuckling.

Sasuke didn't find it funny, however. He simply continued ahead. It wasn't long before he signaled for us to stop. "I see something ahead."

Deep in the woods of the island, Gato's hideout was a cocoon shaped structure suspended in the air between a trio of trees. There was no light or sound coming from the treehouse whatsoever. Even more worrisome, several of the windows that wrapped around the structure had been broken.

"Sasuke, Shadow Clones." We both preformed the technique. My clone raised his hood before nodding to Sasuke's clone. We watched our other selves sneak into the building.

"Seriously, Haru, you aren't into dudes, are you?" Sasuke whispered to me.

"Sasuke, I'm not really into anyone or anything right now. I kind of have bigger concerns at the moment. After I take care of Akatsuki, I'll think about getting a girlfriend. And what about you, Mister Popular? Is there a deeper reason why you ignore all of Sakura's advances? Maybe you prefer red hair instead of pink? Oh, my." I put on my best scandalized face.

Sasuke growled and turned away. It wasn't fast enough to hide the slight redness that was filling his face however. I grinned. Sasuke was so easy to tease.

His voice grew cold as he told me the same words he'd told me so many times before. "You already know that I have to get revenge first. I won't rest until I kill Shimura Danzo."

At that moment, Gato's hideout exploded into a massive, burning wreckage. We dropped to the ground and then the memories came.

* * *

The first thing my shadow clone noticed was that there were no guards anywhere around the perimeter. Sasuke's clone also seemed unsettled. As we crept through the structure, it wasn't until we entered the main room of the building that we found the bodies. Most of the corpses were missing limbs and what remained were bloody, singed torsos.

Sasuke retched reflexively at the sight, unable to actually vomit because he was a clone. Gato's body was laid over the couch, his torso blown open to the spine. It didn't seem like the work of Haku. It was far too gruesome for that.

"I guess your friend's not a fan of my work. Neither was Gato. No appreciation for true beauty, not that it matters to him anymore," a sophisticated voice spoke from the shadows of the room. I spun around towards the source of the voice, kunai at the ready.

"Who are you?!" I shouted. Sasuke held shuriken between his fingers, prepared to attack at a moment's notice.

"Me? I'm just a wandering artist." An Iwagakure ninja walked forward into the dim light filtering from the forest canopy through the broken windows. Half his face was obscured behind long golden bangs.

"Deidara?" It was undoubtedly the Akatsuki member, only he was still wearing Iwagakure ninja robes, not the red trimmed coat I remembered. And for some reason, he was missing his right arm.

"Ah, to think I have a reputation among the Leaf. I would invite you to view my next work of art but I'm afraid you won't live through this one. Regardless of whether you have taste or not, I've found that Sharingan users are complete philistines when it comes to art. The world would be a more beautiful place if they were all exterminated. And I suppose I can just kill you too while I'm at it."

"Haru, there's chakra everywhere..." Sasuke said, his tomoe spinning as he looked around.

"What are you planning to do?" I asked.

Deidara grinned madly. "I've always felt that everything is most beautiful in its last moments. There's a kind of primal truth in that split second when something ceases to exist and the greatest form of that art is an explosion. All that energy, all that chaos...that is true art. And I decided that while I'm here, I might as well bring some art to the plebeians who live in this backwater country. Before he died, Gato informed me of the perfect venue for my next project."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke threw his shuriken at the madman who didn't bother dodging. The shuriken simply stuck in his body or passed through completely. The Clay Clone of Deidara completely lost its light-hearted demeanor.

"See? No appreciation for art. Now, I have to prepare for my next work of art. I assure you, it'll be a real blast!"

That was the last thing my clone remembered before being consumed by hot, white light. As soon as I regained my senses, I ran as fast as possible back to Kakashi, dragging Sasuke by the arm. Only when I was sure he hadn't followed us did I allow myself to slow down and ask myself,  _"Why is Deidara here?"_


	55. Chapter 55

Kakashi rubbed his temples. "So you're telling me that S-rank missing-nin Deidara from Iwagakure killed Gato and all his men and then blew up Gato's hideout? And he intends to blow up the bridge next?" Sakura and Haku, who was wearing his Kirigakure hunter-nin outfit without the mask, were likewise stunned by the unlikely news.

"That's our best guess for the 'venue' he was talking about," I clarified. Sasuke and I had come as quickly as possible to report to Kakashi on the bridge. Something still bothered me about the entire meeting.  _"If Itachi is dead, why does Deidara hate the Sharingan? Why is he missing an arm?"_

The man looked at the two of us incredulously. "You don't seem like you're lying. But that seems kind of hard to believe..."

A massive explosion rocked the bridge and the shadow of a humongous bird passed over us.

Kakashi slowly looked up, a pained expression in his eye. "Is that..."

"Yes," I answered. "That would be Deidara."

Everyone on the bridge watched the underside of the giant white clay bird circle make circles in the air. The workers were on the verge of panic, cowering under building materials or peering over the side of the bridge and wondering whether diving skills would see them through. Team Seven and Haku prepared to evade any attacks from the sky.

"Remember, he infuses his explosive clay with his chakra, meaning he can make it explode on command. That means all his clay sculptures act as remotely controlled bombs. But because his techniques are all earth-based, you should be able to diffuse them with lightning chakra." I was sure as hell going to fill Deidara's head with genjutsu if I had the chance too. I didn't trust my genjutsu to work on half of Akatsuki, but with Deidara it was worth a try.

Sakura was the first to ask, "Why isn't he attacking?"

Haku offered the guess, "Maybe he is waiting for something?"

I had no fucking clue what was going on. I wished I could just click my heels together and go back to ordinary Naruto where things were predictable.

Sasuke pointed at the sky, Sharingan spinning in their sockets, "Incoming projectiles!"

It was not kunai or shuriken or clay insects but rather dozens of copies of Deidara's head floating down from the sky, dangling from tiny parachutes. Each one was an elegantly sculpted replica of the original, all the way down to the long hair over his left eye. Soon they peppered the bridge, their pale white eyes blinking as civilians crept toward them out of curiosity.

When the last head landed, they spoke in unison. "Dear philistines, I'll be back to destroy this bridge in one week unless the masked Sharingan user comes out to fight me. Please be sure to pass this message along to him. That is, if you survive my small demonstration." And then the disembodied heads all began to cackle madly.

"No, you fools! Get away from those!" Sasuke yelled.

All over the bridge, explosions and screams resounded, echoing through the misty ocean air. Eventually, the sounds of the bombs ended and there were only the pained cries of wounded men carried on the breeze.

Deidara and his clay bird were long gone.

"What did you do to make him so angry, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked frantically.

Kakashi didn't seem to know what was going on either. "What makes you think I did anything, Sakura?"

Sasuke chimed in, "The message did mention a masked Sharingan user. So are you going to fight him?"

Instead of giving an answer, Kakashi said, "Sakura, can you tend to the wounded?"

The girl tugged on my arm. "Haru, let's go. Haru, what's up with you?"

And then I remembered that I wasn't just watching these events happen. I was actually here. I was here and I could change things with my own two hands. In a way that I never really felt in Konoha, I realized that I was a shinobi now and of course things wouldn't be the same as the story I remembered.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. Yeah, let's go." I was trembling in my coat. I had spent years preparing for this. Zabuza was the beginning. But I had expected him. As I followed Sakura's lead and assisted her efforts at triage with my own feeble Mystical Palm Technique, despite everything I had taught myself, I still felt unprepared for what was to come.

* * *

"So what kind of training are you going to show us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as we waited before Kakashi in the woods nearby Tazuna's house.

"This." Kakashi walked up the side of the tree, his body completely perpendicular to the trunk.

The three of us waited for him to do something. Our leader continued to walk up the tree and onto the underside of a branch. Upside down, he paused and said to us, "Focus your chakra in your feet and use it to stick to the tree. This will..."

"Just a second, Sensei. You want us to walk up the tree?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Yes, Sakura. You will climb the tree without using your hands. As I was about to explain..." Kakashi was cut off as Sasuke nonchalantly walked up the tree.

"We already know how to do the tree-walking exercise," Sasuke said, his arms crossed in an expression of unimpressed boredom.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"We already know how to walk on trees and fight on top of water and a lot of other things," I answered.

"And who taught you?" the white-haired man asked me. "They don't teach those things at the Academy."

"I did." If I had simply gone along with the Academy curriculum, I would certainly have been a know-nothing genin impressed by the ability to walk up trees.

"Yes, but who taught you, Haru?"

"I just knew from the start," I said.

Kakashi fell from the tree branch and flipped during his split-second fall to land on his feet in front of me. "I should have known," he said, closing his eye wearily as he ran his hand through his coarse white hair. "How strong do you think you are, Haru?" the jounin asked, slowly opening his eye to stare at me.

"Maybe special jounin?" I guessed. It wasn't like I had a lot of examples to compare myself to.

"Really? That strong?" Kakashi's mask obscured all but the vaguest hints as to what he was thinking. I couldn't tell whether he thought I was being arrogant or whether he expected a different answer or if he was thinking about something else.

"Maybe. You could say I'm a genjutsu specialist. But there are a lot of people who have ways of countering genjutsu. Against anyone who's immune to genjutsu, I'm a lot weaker. I have one really strong and versatile attack technique but throwing exploding fireballs will only get me so far, which is why I really wanted to learn kenjutsu now that I'm out of the academy. Sage mode is useful if I have time to prepare but I can't ever count on that for sure. My medical techniques are really only good enough for patching up minor injuries and I don't know much fuinjutsu besides storage seals."

I could tear a hole in anyone who was weak to genjutsu. But against anyone else I'd have to be extremely careful as I was paper thin in terms of defense and lacking any real options in that area besides misdirection with clones.

"How is your taijutsu?" Kakashi asked.

"Pretty good," was all I said.  _"And that's compared to monsters like Naruto and Hinata."_  I'd put good odds on myself to win against anyone below jounin. Against anyone stronger than that, well, that's why I stocked up my bag of tricks during my spare time at the academy.

"What do you think about Sasuke and Sakura?" he asked as if the two of them weren't part of the conversation.

"Sasuke is probably high chunin-level while Sakura is around the lower end of chunin, judging by how far they've taken the Rasengan. The Sharingan bumps up Sasuke in a lot of areas. He just lacks in combat experience. Whereas Sakura doesn't have as much chakra as Sasuke, her medical techniques are extremely useful."

Back in the ground, Sasuke looked annoyed at the frank assessment of his abilities. Sakura also seemed embarrassed. The Academy did very little for our combat abilities, focusing more on drilling us on regulations and procedures and making sure we weren't completely useless as genin. I supposed that was all one could really expect from a standardized institution. Likewise, Uchiha clan matters took up a significant portion of Sasuke's time now that he was the clan heir.

"Is the Sharingan really that powerful?" Sakura asked meekly.

Kakashi looked at her with a thin eye. "Indeed. There are people who would kill for the power of the Sharingan." He rubbed his chin through his mask. "I suppose I have something to teach you that would be useful. I can't say that you'll be able to learn it in a week but it might be interesting to see you guys try."

Kakashi began to gather blue, sparking chakra in his hand. "This is called the Chidori. I've copied a lot of techniques with the Sharingan but this one is my first original technique. Make sure you pay attention because it takes a lot of chakra..."


	56. Chapter 56

It was still dark when I woke up. I glanced at the clock on the wall to see that only a couple hours had passed since I went to bed. I delicately removed my arm from the unconscious Haku's grasp and got out of futon. Sakura was mumbling something about Sasuke in her sleep and the boy in question was scowling irritably as if he was hearing Sakura gush over him in his dreams.

I opened the window and flipped myself onto the roof. The sky was crystal clear and dusted with stars in a way that was unlike anything from my piecemeal memories of the old world. I looked down and on the ground noticed Kakashi talking to his ninken, Pakkun, not that I had been introduced to him. It was only for a second before the ninja dog poofed away and Kakashi pointedly stared back at me as I sat near the edge of the roof.

The man jumped up next to me. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Kakashi-sensei, what do you think of me?" I asked idly.

He sighed before speaking, "Well, you are certainly full of surprises. I was expecting to have a team of genin that were more like actual genin. But I guess it shouldn't surprise me that much. Honestly, you remind me a lot of your mother."

" _What?"_  It took me a moment to react, blurting out, "You knew my parents?"

"Maa, you could say that."

"Well?" I asked expectantly.

"Well what?"

I frowned. Annoyed, I clarified, "What were my parents like?"

A shadow of a smile showed through Kakashi's mask. "Your father was a good friend of my own sensei when I was a genin. And your mother was on the same team as them."

"With...Minato?"

Kakashi's eye widened. "How did you...right. Tell me, Haru, with your kekkei genkai, do you really not know anything about your parents?"

I looked up at the stars again. "It's not really a kekkei genkai...but yeah, I don't have any memories of myself or my parents. I assume you've read the file they have on me. All I know is what the world would be like if I never existed. And most of that knowledge doesn't even apply to this world at all."

"Your mother didn't smile very often, but when she did, it usually meant that Minato or Seishirou could be found at the hospital," he said with a chuckle. "You look like a shorter version of her when you smile. Although I have to admit, she had a pretty scary smile." He looked over his back as if expecting to see a ghost behind him.

"Hm."

"By the way, what happened to that giant sword you had?"

"It's called the Kubikiribocho. I have it sealed away under my coat. Why do you ask?"

"Well...now that you have a sword, it'd be a shame not to teach you how to use it. If I let you make a fool of yourself because I never taught you any kenjutsu, I'm pretty sure your father would come back from the grave to kill me," Kakashi said unexpectedly.

"Don't say it like that. It might actually happen," I warned him facetiously.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Probably," I said with a reassuring grin.

Kakashi's only response was to shiver. "It's uncanny how much you look like her. She smiled just like that, like she was really excited to kill someone. And she usually just did."

"I think you're exaggerating, Kakashi-sensei."

He laid his hand on my shoulder. He sighed and said, "I wish I were. Don't stay up too late." Then he walked by me, presumably to reach his own window on the other side of Tazuna's house.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," I called out. The man raised his fingers in a short wave without looking back before he hopped off the roof.

" _I guess I really do belong here."_  Learning that I had a history, that I hadn't simply spontaneously appeared at birth, was reassuring in a small way. I spent some time appreciating the stars of this world before venturing back into Haku's icy clutches to try to go back to sleep.


	57. Chapter 57

"Yes!" Sakura shouted as she felt splintered wood of the tree on which she was practicing her Chidori. The bark of the tree was singed around the shallow hand-sized wound in the trunk. It was impressive for less than a week and probably strong enough to diffuse Deidara's bombs. Sasuke liked to practice by himself and was even farther than either of us, judging by the state of the trees I had looked at the previous night.

"Haru, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, breathing hard from the chakra expenditure of the Chidori.

"I'm just watching you practice." I was sitting against a nearby tree, focusing on sensing the chakra of Sakura's technique. This wasn't my first lighting release technique, but it was vastly different than Kurenai's invention.

"It's weird when you just sit there staring at me. I thought you hated when people watch you train. Why is it suddenly okay when you do it?" she said snidely.

"I'm doing important research. It'll help me out in the long run."

There were two parts to Kakashi's technique. The first step was the production of lightning chakra that gives the technique its destructive power. The second step was attaining the physical speed necessary for the lightning chakra to begin pulling the wielder faster than they would be able to ordinarily move. Combined with the reflexes of the Sharingan, it would hypothetically be a sure-kill technique as the manual delivery of the attack would ensure it wouldn't miss.

The Chidori combined the highest levels of speed and destructive power to be found in a single-target assassination jutsu. Understanding how it worked explained why Kakashi only ever needed to invent a single technique. Lacking a Sharingan to avoid counter-attacks when being pulled in a straight line by the lightning chakra, I was more interested lightning chakra itself. More specifically, I wanted to channel it through my weapons and projectiles.

That was assuming I could figure out how to condense the fucking lightning into my hand. Even Sakura's minor success was better than anything I had accomplished so far. Anything that required hand seals always felt unnatural to me. Sure, I figured out those techniques eventually but it had always taken me a really long time.

I always felt dumb making hand seals. I understood the theory of how they were supposed to help focus your chakra as you performed the series of gestures but it never really felt natural to me. My best techniques didn't require any hand seals. The ones that did require hand seals I worked on endlessly until I made sure I could use them in a fight and, in some cases, until I didn't need the seals anymore. But I didn't have months in which to learn the Chidori.

The fire nature transformation had come easily enough. It just felt natural to make things burn. It had taken a while to apply it to a Rasengan but that was just a matter of coordination and dedicated practice. Kurenai's anti-genjutsu took me nearly the entirety of my Academy career to master. I thought that experience with lightning techniques would help but electrical signals were different from pure, condensed electricity.

I knew it was probably possible to perform the Chidori without hand seals but getting to that point would be the hard part. Thus, I observed Sakura's moderate successes with the technique through my chakra, feeling it reverberate against nature and my own extended chakra that I might intuit a clue.

Sakura sat down next to me, exhausted and satisfied with the progress of her latest attempt. "So, how far have you gotten, Haru?"

"Not very," I said furtively.

Sensing weakness, the girl grinned. "Eh? The all-powerful Haru is having trouble learning a technique?"

I turned my palm up and concentrated on building chakra above my hand. The trick with lightning chakra was compacting and condensing the energy of the chakra until it sparked and wanted to move on its own. Thin, purple arcs of light began to crawl up my arm over my coat as I tried to intuitively copy Sakura's own blue neo-Chidori. It did nothing other than make my skin tingle so I discharged it into the ground.

Then I surreptitiously checked to make sure my hair wasn't standing on end like with my first attempts at using lightning chakra offensively. Sakura didn't need to know that though.  _"Why doesn't it want to stay in my hand?"_  I wondered.

"I'll get it eventually. Hey, Sakura, I want to ask you something. What is lightning?" I asked the allegedly book smart girl.

"Have you never seen lightning before, Haru?" She gave me a suspicious look.

"I just want to hear from you what you think lightning is. There's no right answer or anything. Just give me an exact definition according to you."

She seemed to become even more suspicious of me. "Isn't lightning just when electricity shoots down from the sky? I'm pretty sure it happens because of the electric charge of the air. I don't know exactly why it happens though."

"My next question is...if you could learn any one technique, what would it be? It doesn't have to be a real technique. I'm just curious what kind of technique you feel would suit you best."

"Why are you suddenly so interested in me, Haru? You used to never want to talk to me." Sakura had her hands on her waist and was looking down at me, expecting an answer.

"You weren't on my team before. And like I said, I'm just curious." I gave her a friendly smile.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at me. But soon she looked up, considering her answer in her head. "I don't know...maybe...something that could help people? That's a weird question. What kind of technique would you pick, Haru?"

" _Something that would level the playing field. Something that can completely neutralize chakra."_

"That...is a secret."

"Ugh, whatever. It's not worth it to ask questions when you have that look on your face." Sakura walked away scornfully, returning to shocking the bark off the trees.

" _What look on my face?"_  I wanted to ask but the girl was already too far away to continue the conversation. My curiosity mostly satisfied, I returned to puzzling out how the flow of electrons would be interpreted through chakra and why it would be good at piercing things. I didn't know if I was thinking about it wrong or just unable to wrap my mind around it but it just didn't make sense to me. The rapid oxidation of fuel caused by the application of heat was simple enough.  _"But where are the electrons actually going? Wouldn't the Chidori just make a magnetic field? Why does it spark so much?"_

I wished I had more chemistry knowledge in my head. But instead all I had was this mild headache from thinking too hard. Deidara's return was only a couple days away.


	58. Chapter 58

I awoke to a tapping sound coming from the window. I yawned and stumbled out of the futon to let my crow into the room. After I opened the window, it fluttered to my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "The bridge."

I yawned one more time before whispering back, " _Thanks, buddy._ " It cawed and disappeared out the window into the night.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked, staring at me from his futon as I stood by the window.

"Wake up your girlfriend. I'm going to get Kakashi."

He grumbled, "She's not my girlfriend."

I walked over to the door. "Whatever. Just make sure you and Sakura are ready for a fight. There's someone at the bridge and it's probably our bomber friend."

Even out in the hall I could hear him faintly muttering, "She's not my girlfriend."

I knocked on Kakashi's door. "Kakashi-sensei?" The man immediately opened the door.

"What are you doing up? Go back to sleep," Kakashi said.

"So you already know?" I asked seriously. It was obvious that I hadn't woken him up. The jounin was about to leave for the bridge, apparently without us. He had that shameful look in his eye that said he was going to leave us behind for our own safety.

"It's too dangerous for you guys. Stay here. If anything happens to me, you're in charge, Haru." The order was cold and condescending and intolerable.

"No. We're coming with you. If Deidara lets down his guard, I can disable him with genjutsu for a moment. Sasuke can watch your back with his own Sharingan and Sakura can patch you up assuming you don't lose an entire limb or anything." I looked the man in the eye. Sasuke and Sakura arrived in the middle of my subordination to join me in staring down our teacher.

Kakashi sighed and hung his head. "This is a terrible idea."

* * *

Kakashi pushed up his headband as we walked onto the bridge. Sakura and I were in the back, following the two Sharingan users who could see Deidara's dangerous chakra. The night was unusually clear, the moonlight only bright enough to discern the sides of the bridge and the trees against the starry sky, shades of black against lighter black. The only sounds on the deserted bridge were our footsteps and the waves of the ocean below.

Sasuke and Kakashi suddenly stopped. And then I noticed the figure walking onto the bridge. Only he walked onto the bridge straight up the side from underneath. In the dark, the only thing I could see properly was Deidara's trademark spiky hair.

"I'm sorry but if you're here for the show, you're a bit early. Come back later if you want to see a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Kakashi spoke, "We can't allow you to blow up this bridge, if that's what you're planning."

Deidara snorted a laugh. "An old man and a few kids think they can stop my art? If this is your idea of a joke, just stop now before you get hurt. Wait...didn't I kill those two already?" He began to growl, "Those eyes...Who are you people? Are you working with the guy in the mask? It doesn't matter. I can't stand those dirty red eyes sullying my art. "

I floated a Rasen-fireball to illuminate the bridge from above. As if reacting to the sudden light, a pair of massive clay centipedes reared up into the air. I heard Deidara yell, "Please die a beautiful death!"

" _Obvious head-on fights are definitely not my style. And I'll be low on chakra capacity until my clone finishes."_ He was too far away for me to enthrall in genjutsu and I didn't trust my pitiful attempts at lightning chakra to fight off Deidara's clay constructs. The only thing I could do was provide support and wait for an opening. Sakura was standing nearby with her hands shrouded in blue Chakra Scalpels, although I doubted how much that would help against the equivalent of plastic explosives.

The centipede in front of Sasuke became a pincushion of blue-glowing senbon.  _"That's crazy impressive for only a week of training. No wonder he's considered a genius."_  Kakashi's centipede opponent was taken down by a crackling blue palm thrust when he slammed the head of the centipede into the ground.  _"If this is the Copy Ninja when he's holding back..."_

Deidara scowled under the flickering light of my fireball as he watched his sculptures being so easily dispatched. "Tsch. Lightning chakra. How did you figure it out?"

"We can see through all of your attacks. Make this easy and surrender now, Deidara of the the Stone," Kakashi demanded, his hand still glowing blue.

"I don't think so. You haven't suffered nearly enough for my art!" he screamed as he pointed his palm toward us. The disturbing mouth embedded in his hand vomited forth a swarm of tiny flying white insects.

"Sasuke! Get back!" Kakashi yelled as he finished a short sequence of hand seals. "Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind!" Around the growing swarm, four pillars of stone arose from over the sides of the bridge, crackling with electricity. Like giant bug zappers, the four pillars struck lightning into the swarm, decimating the miniscule clay sculptures.

Through the cloud of clay being torn apart by lightning, Sasuke pointed at the figure of Deidara who was fleeing down the bridge. "Sensei, he's getting away!" The boy began to run though the field of electric bolts to chase down the missing ninja.

"No! Sasuke! It's too dangerous!" Kakashi yelled again but he couldn't release the technique until the entire swarm was dealt with.

On the other side of the bridge beyond Kakashi's tesla pillars, the bridge underneath Sasuke exploded and crumbled into the sea.

Sakura was screaming hysterically next to me. "Sasuke!" Before I could stop her, she dashed into the lightning storm after Sasuke. Amazingly, she dodged all of the errant bolts of electricity and dived off the end of the bridge, plunging into the sea headfirst.

The sky was growing cloudy above my Rasen-fireball. The fireball continued to spin and burn in the sky like a miniature sun over the bridge. For the time being, there was nothing I could do but continue to wait for a chance to end the fight.

"Ah ha ha ha. That's one set of Sharingan down. You'd think that with his fancy eyes he would have noticed my trap," Deidara taunted on the other side of the huge divide.

Once the air was clear of explosive clay, Kakashi let his fingers come apart from the hand seal that was maintaining the technique and dashed to the end of the bridge. From his body language, it seemed like he wasn't able to see his students anywhere below. And then he gripped his own wrist and pointed it downward, collecting a massive amount of lightning chakra to a single point just below his hand.

"No...Kakashi-sensei!" I yelled helplessly.

In one moment, the white-haired man was rearing back his hand, the sound of chirping birds resounding over the bridge. In the next moment, he was across the chasm with his arm deep in the chest of Deidara's clay clone. The afterimage of his hand's path hung in the air like an overexposed photo of a tracer round.

And then a clay centipede burst from the ground and wrapped around Kakashi. It exploded instantly and when the dust settled, nothing was left behind.

And then I heard Deidara's voice from behind me, "If you don't want to die like your comrades, tell me what you know about the Sharingan user who wears a white mask."

" _Shit. When did he get behind me? Was he under the bridge the whole time? It's still too early."_

I spun around. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't insult my intelligence. First I get attacked by the masked philistine and then chased down to this backwater country. Then two more Sharingan users show up to finish the job." He rubbed his right shoulder where his arm was missing. "Tell me where I can find him and I might let you live long enough to see what kind of art he makes when he explodes."

" _So Kakashi isn't the masked Sharingan user? There's someone else?"_  I had a feeling Kakashi was still alive but I had no idea where he was at the moment. For now, I was on my own.

I pulled out the Kubikiribocho out of the storage seal hidden within my sleeve. As I sunk lighting chakra into the blade, it crackled with purple arcs of electricity. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm more of a music lover myself," I shot back at Deidara. From the forming clouds, a peal of thunder rang out with perfect timing to accentuate my grandstanding.

But it was all for show. I would have to give up my best chance of taking down Deidara if I tried to fight him now. Between the Rasen-fireball, which thankfully was mostly self-sustaining, and the small amount of electricity lacing my sword, I wouldn't be able to commit to a taijutsu attack with my concentration split three ways.

I was about to end the lightning transformation and resort to revealing my genjutsu early when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. This is my fight," a voice said reassuringly from behind a mask. I only caught a glimpse of red through the eye holes before the newcomer disappeared again.

"So you finally show your..." Deidara was cut off as he was kicked away by the stranger who instantly blinked out of sight after connecting his attack. Deidara rolled several times before stopping. Rising to his feet and looking for the assailant, he remarked, "Still just as fast as ever."

" _Damn. I can't keep up with his movements. Whoever it is, he's insanely fast."_

The masked fighter again appeared in Deidara's blind spot, beginning a barrage of attacks from random directions, batting around Deidara like a cat playing with a toy.

" _Is that the Body Flicker Technique? How can he do that so many times in a row?"_  Most people could only manage two or three flickers at the most before becoming too disoriented to continue. This guy was unreal in how fast he was moving between his attacks.

With a final punch to the gut, Deidara was sent flying over the ruined end of the bridge and into the sea. The masked man stood at the edge and stared down. He was wearing a simple black cloak without any identifying markings.

He turned to me. The only features of his pure white mask were the large eye slits through which I could clearly see his Sharingan. But they didn't have tomoe. Instead, it was a black pinwheel against the crimson iris.

" _Shisui."_

I stood in amazement at my improbable savior. And in a single blink, he disappeared. In his place was Kakashi, who had chosen that moment to attack the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, recollecting himself after his missed attack.

"Hatake Kakashi, you are the jounin of this team?" Shisui tossed a scroll to Kakashi past my head. "That is from the Hokage."

Kakashi opened the scroll, applying chakra to verify its authenticity, and appeared to be satisfied when the watermark glowed green.

It was at that moment my clone finished gathering natural energy and dispersed, gifting me with a substantial supply of senjutsu chakra. It was a rush of power that enhanced my senses and speed and strength. And I noticed something was wrong.

"Kakashi-sensei! Deidara is still alive!" I shouted. The man's eye grew wide as he became shadowed by a massive, morbidly exaggerated balloon version of Deidara. In each hand, the gigantic Deidara balloon held Sasuke's unconscious body and Sakura who was struggling in its grasp. Deidara himself was standing on top of the clone's head, himself swollen and battered but still alive.

The Iwagakure outcast laughed maniacally. "Are you ready to see some true art?"

Sakura shouted, "Sensei, I'm okay! Please save Sasuke!"

I tossed him the sword, still crackling with purple arcs of electricity. "Kakashi! Use this! Do it now!"

Kakashi caught the energized Kubikiribocho and leaped into the air. As he brought it downward through Deidara, a massive array of lightning bolts struck from the sky, merging and flowing through the sword as it cut down the blond ninja and his giant explosive clone. The real Deidara was completely incinerated within the pillar of lightning and the giant balloon clone disintegrated as blue electricity coursed through it.

"Grab Sasuke!" I told Shisui as I went to catch Sakura. The two of us ended up on the other side of the section of missing bridge. "Thanks, Shisui," I said but he was already gone. Sakura escaped my arms and rushed over to the boy who was lying on the ground and began to tend to his wounds, her tears drying as she dutifully began her medical work.

As it began to rain from the clouds my Rasen-fireball has created, I thought to myself,  _"That went better than I thought it would."_


	59. Chapter 59

"Ino-chan! I missed you!" I said with a wide grin as I walked into the familiar flower shop. Every time I saw the place, it was like visiting a memory frozen in time. Every year it was the same flowers, only their prices changing from season to season.

"Haru! You're back from your mission?" Ino asked cheerfully.

" _Man, Ino's going to be really hot when she's older. It's only been a month and she already looks more mature."_  These were my secret thoughts that I would never translate into Japanese lest the Yamanaka learned more advanced mind jutsu in the future.

Instead of commenting on her appearance, I said, "Of course. It wouldn't be right if I didn't come by and visit my friends."

Ino crossed her arms over the counter, leaning forward. "So, how was the Land of Waves? You're on the same team as Sakura and Sasuke, right?"

"It was interesting. I got myself a cool souvenir and our sensei taught us a new technique that I'm still trying to figure out." I poked a bundle of roses. "Sakura and Sasuke get along just about as well as ever. Our teacher is a little weird but he's a good guy." I had missed the smell of the flower shop since I was last here.

"Say, Haru, now that we're genin, I was thinking that maybe we could make our relationship a bit more serious." Ino was looking down at the floor behind the counter.

"Does that mean you want to start training with me? I thought you didn't want to have regular sparring sessions with me. You said you were too busy with the store." I had always worried about what kind of trouble her Mind Body Switch Technique might get her into. I would feel much better if she had other options to rely on but I had enough on my plate than to try to teach someone who had already declined my offer several times before.

The girl I had known since childhood looked straight at me. "No. What I mean is..."

It was then that Sakura burst into the store. "You! I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"No! Ino-sama! Protect me from the Pink Devil!" I yelled as I hid behind the blonde and used her as a shield, keeping her between me and Sakura.

"Step aside, Ino," Sakura ordered her friend, cracking her knuckles as she followed me behind the counter.

"Hold it! What's going on?" Ino shouted at the ceiling.

"That bastard embarrassed me in front of Sasuke!" the pink-haird girl shouted.

"It's not my fault Sasuke likes my cooking more than yours." I ducked behind my female shield in case Sakura decided to break out the senbon.

"You didn't have to tell him it was poisonous!"

"It might have well been poison. Do you even taste the things you cook?"

"It was healthy! I specifically made it to help regain energy faster. It's good for you digestive system!"

"You didn't have to use up all of our rations to make your stupid food pills. You're lucky I had that bounty money to buy actual food with."

Ino deftly defused the situation by changing the subject. "Sakura, when did you change your hair? It's really pretty."

Indeed, Sakura had been wearing her hair differently since after the fight with Deidara. Instead of a symmetrical part, her bangs fell decidedly over the right side of her face, obscuring her right eye. It was a lot like how Ino would probably have styled her hair in the future. Or a mirrored version of Deidara's style, only pink.

"Um, in the Land of Waves. I thought I could use a new style to...um...catch Sasuke's eye." Sakura looked kind of embarrassed. I knew the real reason why she changed her hair style but I wasn't going to reveal a secret like that on a whim.

Ino turned to me. "Haru, I think you should apologize to Sakura-chan."

I scratched my neck. "I'm sorry, Sakura."  _"That you nearly killed us with your food experiments."_

"I'm sorry too. I just wanted to help," Sakura said, wringing her hands together.

"There. Much better." Ino nodded and turned to her friend. "If that's all, Sakura, do you think you could leave us alone for a bit? There's something I wanted to talk to Haru about."

Sakura looked suspicious for a second as she stared at us. But then a look of understanding appeared on her face. "Oh. Sure. No problem. I'll talk to you later, Ino-chan." She shook her fist threateningly at me before walking out of the store.

"Whew, thanks Ino. You're a lifesaver." I walked out in front of the counter, glad to have the Pink Devil off my back.

Ino joined me in front of the counter. Standing next to me, I felt a tiny bit embarrassed that she was taller than me. I wasn't expecting her to lean into my personal space and say, "About what I was talking about earlier..."

Haku walked into the store. He was wearing his thin pink kimono that, in my opinion, showed an excessive amount of skin. "Haru-sama, there you are. I'm lucky I noticed your teammate leaving this building. Please don't leave me alone again. I still don't know my way around the village very well..."

"Who is this?" Ino asked, suddenly wary of the boy who joined my side.

"Oh, Ino, this is Haku. Haku, meet my friend Ino."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ino-san," Haku said gently with a polite bow.

"How do you know Haru?" Ino asked the androgynous teen.

"Haru defeated my master. Lacking anywhere else to go, he allowed me to accompany him. Now I belong to him," Haku said seriously with a rueful smile, definitely giving the wrong impression to Ino.

The blonde's eye was twitching and waves of killing intent were rolling off the girl. The air temperature of the store dropped, giving me chills despite my thick black coat.

"Ah ha ha, what he means is that he's staying with me until he finds a new purpose in life."

"He?" Ino asked between clenched teeth.

"Indeed. I am a man," Haku chimed in. Ino's head slowly turned to look at Haku. It moved up and down deliberately before turning to me.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah. He just happens to look really cute."

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Ino shouted as she uppercut me into the ceiling. "I won't allow it! It's not right for two guys to be in that kind of relationship! I mean, it'd be even worse if he were a girl but..."

As I slowly sank out of the plaster and fell to the ground, I wondered,  _"Maybe there was a better way to handle that situation?"_

Haku caught me in his arms. "Haru-sama..." he said. For some reason he was looking at me and blushing. And then I heard a loud thump.

I hopped out of Haku's arms and I looked at Ino, who was on the floor. The lower half of her face was covered in blood from the nose down and she had an unfathomable smile despite being unconscious.

I preformed some hand seals and waved a glowing hand over the fainted girl. The diagnostic jutsu indicated that she was fine other than a sudden decrease in blood pressure. I gently picked up her body and carried her into the living areas in the back of the store to let her rest until she woke up.

Haku looked worried. "Did I do something wrong, Haru-sama?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? Sometimes I don't think I'll ever understand girls."


	60. Chapter 60

"Thank you for your patronage!" I told the customer as she left with a bouquet of flowers. It had only been a few months since I last filled in for Ino, but the job was simple enough and I could look up the prices from a cheat sheet under the counter.

Haku was sitting on the stool behind the counter, looking pretty and watching me diligently performing Ino's chores for her. I had left her on a couch in the back, blanketed in my coat. The seals embedded in my coat didn't hold anything truly irreplaceable. I had my hair tied in a ponytail. A plain black t-shirt and black slacks was a bit inappropriate for a flower shop but still better than wearing a heavy overcoat.

"Haru-sama, is that Ino girl important to you?" Haku asked suddenly as I started to sweep flower cuttings.

"Of course. I grew up in an orphanage but I didn't really get along with most of the people there. The Yamanakas are basically closest thing I had to a family growing up. And Ino is like a little sister to me. It's a little corny but I guess you could say that she's someone that I care about, that I wish I could protect, and she's standing right there...Er, hi, Ino. Are you feeling better?" I smiled to hide my embarrassment when I noticed the girl in question standing in the corner of my vision.

Ino was holding my coat in her arms. "Little sister?" Her mouth was puckered in an annoyed expression.

"So I guess you heard us talking." I scratched the back of my head.

Ino thrust my coat into my chest. "Just don't expect me to call you ' _onii-san'_." She seemed upset. "You, you're in my seat," she said, pointing at Haku who immediately vacated the stool to stand next to me.

"Oh, you had something you wanted to talk to me about..." I remembered.

"Just forget about it." She slammed her fist on the register. It opened obediently and she shoved the drawer shut after glancing inside. Then she looked over the store. "Woah, Haru, did you..."

"Yeah." I finished putting on my coat. "Just be sure to water the plants later. Everything else should be taken care of. I have to go now. Take care of yourself, Ino." The daily tasks of a flower shop were no match for the Kage Bunshin. The blonde was blushing as I waved goodbye.

Haku bowed politely. "It was nice to meet you, Ino-san," he said as he followed me out of the store.

Ino hadn't been asleep for long. It was still mid-afternoon, plenty of time to see how Hinata was doing.

As I led us through the streets of Konoha toward the Hyuga compound, Haku asked me an awkward question, "Is that Ino girl precious to you?"

It was painful to answer his question. "It doesn't matter whether she's precious to me or not. I...I'm not going to be able to protect her. She deserves...something that's not me."

"Why can't you..."

"I don't want to talk about it, Girly." And that was the end of the conversation.

* * *

Hinata leapt onto me, wrapping me in a hug. "Haru-kun! You're back! Does this mean we're on for this week?" She was wearing her trademark purple and white sweatshirt. Her Konoha headband was around her neck and I could feel the metal plate against my collarbone.

She let go and I returned her grin with one of my own. "You bet. Kakashi-sensei even started teaching me kenjutsu! I'm not going to go down so easily this time."

"Who knows? You might even win. Unlikely but possible," the girl teased exuberantly.

"Hey! I won last time!" I pouted lightly, enjoying the exchange between me and my friend.

"Yeah, after five losses in a row," Hinata said. "And I let you win that time." Her playful barbs were accompanied by the most adorable smile I had ever seen. But then she realized Haku was standing there, watching us. "Oh! Ah, um, who is this?"

"My name is Haku," he said. "I take it that you are a friend of Haru-sama?"

"Um...I...I guess you could say that. How do you know Haru-kun?" Hinata seemed intimidated by the tall, beautiful young man.

I immediately slapped my hand over Haku's mouth and answered, "He's staying with me for the time being. And yes, he's a guy."

Hinata's face sprouted a deep red on her cheeks. "Oh, I thought...never mind. Would you like some tea?" she offered, inviting us deeper into her home.


	61. Chapter 61

" _Man, Hinata always makes really nice tea,"_  I thought to myself as I gleefully sipped from the upscale tea mug.

"Haru-kun, tell me about your mission. You were gone for a month," Hinata said. The three of us were seated around a low Japanese-styled table. "Did you see anything interesting?"

"Yeah! They just finished building this humongous bridge all the way across the ocean. It's called the Great Kaiza Bridge. What about you? How are Shino and Naruto?"

"Shino-san is kind of quiet but he's really nice. Naruto is the same as ever, you know," she said happily. "And I didn't expect Kurenai-sensei to be our jounin leader. Did you know she's really good at genjutsu?"

"Haha, yeah. She's actually given me a lot of tips over the years on how to improve my own genjutsu," I admitted.

Hinata looked annoyed. "What? Really? Why didn't they put you on Team Eight then?"

"I don't know. Something about trying to balance out the genin teams? I don't think it worked very well." I gave a shallow chuckle as I considered how Team Seven turned out.

"I'm kind of curious...how did you and Haku-san meet?" Hinata asked, sipping her tea.

"Before I get into that...Haku, what do you think of Hinata? Isn't she adorable? She's a bit shy until you get to know her. And she's single. Perfect girlfriend material, if you ask me." I waved my arms as if showcasing a grand prize on a gameshow.

At my right, Haku nodded placidly. "Indeed, Haru-sama, she is quite beautiful." On my left, Hinata turned an intense shade of red.

"Well, there you go, Hinata! I brought you a cute boyfriend as a souvenir! Aren't I a great friend? Haku, make sure you take good care of Hinata-chan."

Both Haku and Hinata shouted simultaneously, "Ehhhhh?"

"You two will make the cutest couple!" Internally, I celebrated,  _"This way, Haku will find a new purpose in life and Hiashi will finally get off my case about marrying his daughter! Two birds with one stone!"_

I should have predicted that Hinata would faint. It was easy to forget that she was still a shy person around others. Despite all the confidence she would show me regularly, Hinata still had a long way to go before she would truly come into her own.

"Oy, Haku, aren't you going to help your new fiancé?" I asked.

Haku chose that moment to faint himself.

" _Truly a pairing made in heaven."_

* * *

"Haru-sama, do I truly have to court that girl?" Haku asked as we walked home that evening.

"You're the one who said your life belonged to me. If you don't like it, then do something about it. But if the two of you do get along, I can always talk to Hyuga Hiashi and make the arrangement official." I was enjoying this situation immensely.

Haku paled. And then he mumbled, "It's so sudden..." I just ignored him.

A couple minutes later, he asked me, "Is Hinata-san also someone who is precious to you?"

I pulled up my hood and kept walking silently.

Eventually, Haku asked, "Haru-sama...am I...what am I to you?"

We had just arrived outside my apartment complex. "Haku, take this ryo and go get yourself something to eat. Don't come back until morning."

"What's going on, Haru-sama?" he asked confused.

Even from the ground, I could already see the outcroppings of pink hair belonging to a girl waiting next to my door on the third floor. "This is for your own good, Girly."

* * *

"You didn't have to keep me waiting so long, you bastard!" Sakura scowled at me once we were in my apartment.

"So I take it you've come to a decision about my offer?" I said, habitually making tea for myself and the exasperating girl.

Sakura seemed to calm down. "...yes."

Waiting in the kitchen for the electric kettle to boil, I idly asked, "And your answer?"

"I want to do it. I want to be strong enough to stand by Sasuke," she said confidently.

"You really trust me that much?"

"You might be a massive jerk, but you've never done anything to hurt me or Sasuke." She looked away. "You act like you don't like me but ever since we met it's like you've been looking out for me. And for Sasuke too. I don't really understand it but..."

"No, it's true. I really don't like you."

Sakura punched me on the top of my head. "I was going to say thanks but now it feel unnecessary." Her eye was twitching in anger.

"Is it really a good idea to give me a concussion right before I perform an eye transplant?!" I yelled back, rubbing my head.

"Ah, sorry," she apologized embarrassedly. She was about to pull her bangs out of her face but suddenly stopped herself, remembering why I asked her to change her hair style.

I poured some hot water into a mug over a bag of tea and handed it to the girl. "You know that this will permanently affect your chakra system. You're absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Sakura stared into the cup. "I know. You told me already. And I'm sure." She reached into her hip pouch and pulled out a small black jar I hadn't seen in years. For such a small jar, it sounded so heavy when she set it on the table.

I took off my coat and folded it over one of the chairs next to Sakura. "Alright. I'll implant the Sharingan first and then you transplant your old eye into me."

"It doesn't really seem like a fair trade," she said, glancing at the jar.

"Don't worry. I have a feeling that having two eyes will come in really handy someday." I smiled reassuringly but it didn't improve the girl's mood.

I opened one of my cupboards and pulled down my hoard of medical supplies. I moved her half-finished tea and asked, "Please lie down on the table, Sakura."

* * *

The eye was probably the easiest organ to transplant, only requiring the growth of a relatively small amount of nerves and tissue. When I was finished, I lifted the genjutsu keeping Sakura in an unconscious, dream-like state. The girl gasped for air and placed her hand over her new right eye. "It hurts..."

"Did you already forget everything you learned from the medical classes? Your chakra network is still adapting so it's to be expected that it hurts. Just make sure you keep it closed as much as possible to minimize the chakra drain." I threw away the latex gloves I had used for the surgery. Medical chakra could sterilize tools and prevent infection but I preferred to be on the safe side.

"I can...feel it..." she said, slowly prying her hand away.

I spoke plainly. "Shut up and get off the table already. You can play with your new toy later. Right now, it's your turn to fulfill your part of the bargain."

She slid off the table and stood dumbly while I took her place on the kitchen table.

"Um, are you going to put yourself to sleep or what?" she asked.

"No? I can't cast genjutsu on myself," I said irritably.

"I...I don't know any techniques to put someone to sleep," she confessed.

I sat up and growled, "What? What the hell did you do for the last six years then? I can't believe...arggh. Whatever. Just do it." I lay down again and tried to calm down. Breathing through my teeth, I told the airhead, "Hurry up already. I don't have all night."

"Without anesthetic?" Sakura asked fearfully.

I pulled off my eyepatch. Most people never realized anything was wrong with my eye because I kept a genjutsu on it constantly. But for me, it was a daily reminder of how close I've come to dying.

"I'm sorry my kitchen isn't quite a fully stocked operating room," I said sarcastically. "Open that drawer and give me a towel." When she handed me the clean dishtowel, I bit down on it and prepared for the worst.

" _Goddamit. At least Haku isn't here to see this."_


	62. Chapter 62

I was walking through the streets of Konoha with Haku after completing the daily D-rank missions with Sakura and Sasuke. They were tiresome but easy enough.

After exchanging eyes with Sakura, I still wore my eye patch, concealed under a genjutsu that made it seem like I had two ordinary eyes to anyone looking. No one had questioned Sakura's new hair style. It merely seemed like she was copying Ino. Personally, I thought it looked good on her.

I stopped Haku. Ahead of us, two Suna ninja were walking toward us. A blonde kunoichi whose hair was tied back in four places and a male dressed in black with a painted face. The woman was carrying a giant folding fan and the man was carrying a large wrapped bundle that had a strange tuft of hair on top.  _"Sorry, Shikamaru. Temari is too hot not to go for it, especially since she'll go back to Suna after the Chunin Exam."_

I walked up to Temari. "Hello, how are you enjoying Konoha?" I happily asked the blonde Suna kunoichi.

"Eh? I didn't know they let little girls become ninja here," Kankuro said snidely.

" _I can't kill him. That would make his sister angry."_  I just smiled and ignored the puppeteer. I kept speaking to Temari. "You're here for the Chunin Exam, right? How would you like me to show you around the village? My name is Haru and this is Haku."

Temari replied coldly and deliberately, "I apologize on behalf of my brother. Yes, we are here for the Chunin Exam, but we don't need a guide. Kankuro, let's go." Her brother snorted and they walked past us.

Haku whispered to me, "Why do you wish to ingratiate yourself with foreign ninja, Haru-sama?"

"Because she's basically my ideal girl! Hngggh..." I clutched my rapidly beating heart and chased after the two Sand Siblings while trying to ascertain the location of the third.  _"There he is, on the roof. Damn, I wouldn't have found him if I didn't already know he was there."_

I jumped up to the roof of a nearby shop, leaving Haku behind. "Hi, my name is Haru. Do you want to get some kakigori with me? I tried to invite your friends but they didn't seem interested."

Gaara glared at me. "What is kakigori?"

"It's delicious and perfect for a hot day like this." I held out my hand to the fellow red-haired boy. "There's a great place just a block away."

He ignored me and jumped off the roof. I looked down and he seemed to be waiting for me in the street.  _"At least he didn't kill me."_

* * *

Gaara poked at his shaved ice with his spoon. His was flavored with an appropriately sanguine cherry syrup and mine was strawberry flavored.

"So, how are you liking Konoha? It must be really different from Suna," I asked, pausing to savor a spoonful of sugary snow. "I wanted to ask you, since I assumed she's on your team, the blonde girl...is she single?"

"Is that really why you brought me here?" he asked with a mix of suspicion and disdain.

I grinned. "Of course. I'm sure we'll get plenty of chances to kill each other during the exams. Why not enjoy the time until then as friends?" There was an intense pressure coming from the boy sitting across the table from me in the café. It was exhilarating in a way that vaguely reminded me of when Haku tried to kill me.

"What do you mean by friends?" he asked, still leering at me.

It was then that Haku, Temari, and Kankuro entered the café. I waved to them, shouting, "Hey! Come join us."

Haku sat next to me in the booth and Temari fearfully took the seat next to her brother. Kankuro pulled up a spare chair to sit at the end of the table.

"Here, Haku, try this. It's really good!" I lifted a spoonful of strawberry ice and fed it to the taller boy.

He licked his lips and smiled. "It is delicious, Haru-sama."

Temari spoke gingerly, as if afraid of being burned by proximity to her younger brother, "It looks like you and your sister are pretty close."

I corrected her, "Oh, we're not related at all."

Then Haku corrected her, "And we are both men."

Kankuro handed his sister a napkin. "Your nose is bleeding, Temari."

Meanwhile, Gaara grasped his spoon determinedly and took a bite of his cherry-flavored shaved ice. He seemed to like it because he proceeded to consume the rest of it, although it was strange to watch someone frown constantly while eating dessert.


	63. Chapter 63

I had finished my shaved ice treat and was leaning back in my seat, waiting for everyone else to finish. I rested my head contentedly against the padded backing of the booth seat and Haku's arm. If nothing else, he made a tolerable pillow.

I asked the beautiful blonde woman sitting across from me, "So, Temari, do you want to see a movie with me? There's a new one starring Yukie Fujikaze. It might be interesting. What do you say?"

Temari lowered her spoon. After swallowing a mouthful of blue-colored ice, she answered, "I already told you, you're not my type. Quit bothering me."

I closed my eyes, only a little heartbroken. "It's because I'm short, isn't it?"

Kankuro chuckled. "Just give it up. Trust me, she isn't worth the trouble." That earned him a glared from his sister.

I opened my eyes and stared out the window. "I also wanted to ask, since you're from Sunagakure, how is the Kazekage? Notice anything weird about him lately? Like he's not been himself? Any strange behaviors or orders?"

Temari's expression hardened. "What are you implying?"

I could feel Gaara's attention on me. It was heavy and choking but I was long practiced at maintaining my composure in front of someone stronger than myself. "It's probably nothing. I just wouldn't trust Otogakure if I were you."

I probably could have handled that inquiry better. As it was, I had no idea whether Orochimaru was still planning on attacking Konoha. He might still be with Akatsuki even, since Itachi wasn't around. In any case, either I would seem like a nutjob or I would sow doubt in their hearts about the invasion. There were benefits to both.

While they were puzzling out my vague warning, I spoke cheerfully to the disgruntled jinchuriki, "So how about you, Gaara? Do you want to see a movie with me? Maybe your brother would like to come too?"

Gaara answered, "How do you know that we are siblings?" Suspicion and bloodlust emanated not only from the redheaded boy but his brother and sister too, judging from the sudden killing intent. Even Haku was looking at me strangely.

" _Shit. I fucked up."_  The only option I had was to go all-in. "Is it wrong that I wanted to show some hospitality to the Sunagakure jinchuriki?"  _"Not to mention his hot older sister..."_  Noticing the sand beginning to swirl under the table, I leaped out of the booth seat, cradling Haku in my arms, to land on the headrest of the next booth seat over. "Like I said, we can kill each other during the exam, Gaara. So let's be friends for now! You wouldn't want to get sent home early for causing trouble, do you?"

Gaara averted his intense gaze and growled, "We're leaving now."

As they were leaving, I shouted, "I think you're really cute, Temari! Tell me if you want to see that movie later!" But I was ignored by the girl completely. I put Haku down and sighed.

"I have to admit, Haru-sama, that accompanying you never ceases to be interesting."

I glared at the smiling Haku. "That's one way to put it..."

* * *

"Hey, Naruto, am I a good friend?"

Naruto took a moment from his second bowl of ramen to answer, "Sure! Why are you asking now?"

I stared at my own single bowl of ramen. Ichiraku's was a tradition for the two of us. I had escaped Haku just to be alone with Naruto for a while. "Naruto, I have something to tell you, something I've been afraid to say for as long as I've known you."

"What's going on, Haru?" he asked worriedly.

I took a moment to gather my courage before stating clearly, "I want to get udon next time."

"What? But ramen is the best!" Naruto declared, shocked and hurt.

"Yeah, but we get it all the time! I need some variety sometimes, unlike you."

"Oh...I'm sorry, Haru. We can totally go somewhere else next time. I just assumed..."

"Nah, you didn't do anything wrong. I didn't say anything until now. I just...Hey, Naruto, do me a favor and never change, okay? You gotta become the best Hokage this village has ever seen, no matter what."

Naruto's grin was the biggest I've ever seen. "Definitely! Between everything you and the Old Man taught me, you can bet I'll become an awesome Hokage!"

"Naruto, can you tell me again why you want to become Hokage?" I always thought it was weird how his dream persisted in this world despite having been absent from Konoha's harsh uncaringness for most of his childhood.

Naruto rubbed his chin with his finger. "Well, the Old Man told me about how my...my dad was this great ninja and I figured that...you know...I could become an even better Hokage than him." Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "And when I was traveling, I saw a lot of people who were in trouble and needed help. But some of time...I...I wasn't strong enough to help them. The Old Man was though. He's really strong. So I thought that if I could become strong enough to become Hokage, then I'd be strong enough to help everyone. Does that make sense, Haru?"

"Yeah. It makes perfect sense, Naruto." I slurped down some of that deliciously salty Ramen Ichiraku broth. "I'm sure you're going to be an amazing ninja, Naruto." Honestly, by all accounts he already was.


	64. Chapter 64

I desperately fended off Sasuke's vicious practice sword with my own bamboo shinai.  _"That fucking Sharingan..."_  Even though I could edge out Sasuke in raw speed, he was far, far more efficient in his movements. In the short time Kakashi had been instructing us in kenjutsu, Sasuke had become monstrously good at it. It was a little unfair that he merely had to copy Kakashi's movements with his Sharingan and adapt the jounin's moves for his own use.

It distinctly reminded me of playing a video game. Sasuke was like an AI-controlled opponent in a fighting game that was set to impossible difficulty and could read my button inputs and respond perfectly. I still had the time of my life trying vainly to beat the crap out of him.

I wasn't half bad at kenjutsu myself. I didn't know how much was predisposition and how much was years of taijutsu practice but it felt natural to use a sword. Now that I knew the basics of how to properly strike and block and shift my feet, it felt like I was catching up with an old friend I had forgotten.

I still was only a beginner, however. Sasuke broke through my guard and tapped me hard on the ribs.  _"Goddamn. Can't fall for that one again."_

Kakashi stopped us, "Impressive. Both of you are progressing very quickly. This might be a little sudden but I've recommended the three of you for the Chunin Exam."

Sakura looked up from her medical text. "Huh? Chunin Exam? Already?"

Kakashi gave us a reassuring eye-smile and said, "I think the three of you are ready. Here are your applications. If you feel you aren't ready for any reason, you don't have to enter. It's completely optional. Otherwise, then bring your signed application form to Room 301 at the Academy at 3 o'clock five days from now."

I grinned.  _"It's finally here."_  And then I gingerly rubbed the bruise on my torso.  _"Only five days left. Gotta make it count."_

* * *

I was sitting against a tree with Sasuke. We were watching our clones fight with actual swords. His clone had a generic katana and mine was using the Kubikiribocho.

"Hey, Sasuke, have you ever considered what you would do after you finally kill Danzo?" I asked idly. My clone was fully using the reach of the massive sword to keep Sasuke at bay. I was a little annoyed that I had to remake my clone far more often than Sasuke, however.

The Uchiha took a long time to reply. "I'm supposed to fulfill my father's expectations and become a ninja worthy of leading the Uchiha clan."

"Is that what you want though?" It wasn't really any of my business. I was just curious because he was my teammate.

"What else is there?" he retorted.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Anyways I'm done for now. I have some things to take care of. I'll see you at the exams." I picked up my sword off the ground and started to walk off. Sasuke didn't stop me.

* * *

Finally, it was the day of the exam. I was about as prepared as I could be. I met up with Sakura and Sasuke outside the Academy. "Hey, guys! Ready to become chunin?"

Sakura answered halfheartedly, "I guess so."

Sasuke, as cheerful as ever, replied, "Whatever."

* * *

I sat down in my assigned seat for the first test. Next to me was a familiar face.

"Kabuto! Long time no see! How have you been? Finally decided to take me up on that anmitsu offer?"

"Do I know you?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten your dear friend Haru! It's only been about six years. You gotta tell me what you've been up to, Kabuto. Joined Otogakure, I see. Has Orochimaru been treating you well? Is that old fogey Danzo still alive?"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Kaida."

"So that's what you're going by these days. Alright. If you don't want anmitsu, we can get some dango after the test if you want."

"Please, leave me alone."

I definitely did not expect Kabuto to show up to the Chunin Exam. Sure he was using a different name and not doing his magic ninja info card trick. But it was unmistakably Kabuto.

"We'll catch up after the test okay?"

He merely ignored me until Ibiki Morino walked into the room.

The first test was about what I expected. Ten questions, team scoring, the last question revealed at the end. I was pretty good at math so I could answer one question on my own, the one about optimal kunai trajectory.

For the rest of the test, I doodled cartoons on the back of my test with my finger and used genjutsu to make random foreign ninja fail. I used a combination of making their feet itch, illusionary bugs flying around their heads, shadows on the periphery of their vision, and horrifyingly distracting screams from behind them. I got about a dozen genin disqualified before Ibiki revealed the final question. I could have done better, but I wanted to finish drawing the chibi versions of the entire Rookie Nine before I ran out of time.

" _Man, Ibiki's coat is pretty nice,"_  I thought to myself when he presented the tenth question.  _"Yeah, I should totally think about getting a new one after the exam."_

And then Naruto immediately undid all of my sabotage by declaring, "It doesn't matter what kind of question you give us! One day, I'm gonna become the Hokage and some stupid test isn't going to change that!"

* * *

I was expecting Anko Mitarashi to burst in through the window but instead, it was Jiraiya who swaggered into the room through the door. He groaned and muttered under his breath still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "I'm too old for this."

" _That's different. I guess the Hokage is doing something after all to prepare for Orochimaru. Still, I was looking forward to seeing how much Anko's chainlink really hides though."_  Being a teenager was rough.

"Yo! Congratulations on passing the first stage of the exam! You might know me as the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya the Sannin! But right now, I'm your proctor for the second stage of the exam." Jiraiya proudly pointed his thumb into his chest.

"This is the Toad Sannin? More like the Clown Sannin," a petulant voice spoke from behind me. A Kirigakure genin was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed defiantly.

With a deadpan expression on his face, Jiraiya clapped his hands together summoning a cloud of chakra. Before the smoke began to clear, a massive pink tongue shot out at the genin, wrapping around the Mist ninja who was pulled into the mouth of a toad that was nearly as tall as Jiraiya himself. The nondescript genin screamed before being swallowed whole. The toad seemed completely unaffected by his human-sized meal.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Jiraiya told the shocked class. "Does anyone else feel like interrupting my introduction? No? Well, I was going to tell you that your jounin leaders will tell you when and where to meet tomorrow for the next test. If you don't want to end up like that guy, you had best come prepared. Alright. That's it. See ya." He blandly waved his hand and trudged out of the room, grumbling, "This is why I don't like sticking around longer than I have to...putting me on babysitting duty..."


	65. Chapter 65

Jiraiya explained the rules of the exam with the most disinterested voice the Sannin was capable of. "You'll probably die so you have to fill out these release forms." He yawned and pulled out a stack of papers. "Take them over there when you're ready." Then he began to pass out forms to the genin.

I was scanning the crowd, looking for familiar faces. There was the Sound team I remembered that Orochimaru sent to test Sasuke. I had forgotten their names since they weren't in any bingo books for me to cross reference with my notes.  _"Wonder what they're here for this time..."_ There were a few other noteworthy teams. Kiba was here, although I didn't recognize his teammates. Naruto was nearby also, talking excitedly to Shino. A couple of Grass teams also caught my eye, although it didn't seem like the Snake Sannin was disguised among them this time.

"Sakura, remember what I said. Don't use it unless it's a life-or-death situation," I cautioned the pink-haired girl. Sasuke was somewhat trustworthy but I didn't want to risk anything until the finals.

The girl nodded in acquiescence. Sasuke noticed and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Just something I've been working on with Sakura. It's not ready yet though."

At that point, Naruto came by with Hinata and Shino to wish us luck. Sasuke dropped the subject but continued to look at me suspiciously until we handed in our forms and reached the gates to the Forest of Death.

* * *

As soon as the gates opened, Sasuke, Sakura, and I rushed into the forest.

I swiped my hand over the seals in my bracers and shin guards.  _"Man, these seal-based weights are really convenient. I'm pretty lucky Zabuza had such a big bounty. Maybe I should think about becoming a bounty hunter."_  Then I paused for a moment to dismiss my chakra, something I had started to call Zetsu, even though chakra and nen worked very differently. I found it easier to describe it to Hinata if I named the technique.

I flipped up my hood over my head and spoke, "Alright, you two go find some scrolls. I have something I need to take care of. See you later!"

"What? Where are you going? You can't just leave us in the middle of..."

That's all I heard Sakura say as I veered off toward my target. The two of them should be enough to take care of any genin that they came across. Hopefully I'd be back before they met any really strong ninja.

" _Hopefully I won't get swallowed by a giant snake before I can get back."_

* * *

I followed a crow through the forest to a particular Kusagakure team. As it was, I had a lot of extra eyes in the forest already. My birds weren't really very talkative partners but it didn't hinder our working relationship.

I hopped from tree branch to tree branch, concentrating on moving silently and not accidentally falling off without my chakra. Eventually, I sighted the three Grass genin. Two males and one female. They seemed to be talking to each other quietly.

I readied a pair of senbon in each hand between my fingers.  _"I hope all my practice with Haku paid off."_  From my perch above them, I flung the senbon into the necks of the male genin. They fell to the ground limply and the red-headed girl started to scream.

I dropped down and raised my hand toward the girl, my fingers curling upward. "Karin, join me and together we can rule the galaxy," I rasped.

"Who...who are you?" she asked fearfully as I stood over her.

Through my hood, I spoke, "Karin, I am your father!"

She fell backward and screamed, "No! It can't be true! My parents are dead!"

I broke into laughter. "Yeah, you're right. I was just kidding." Her reaction was priceless. In the back of my mind, I hoped to God that I wasn't actually her father because of some stupid Time-Travel jutsu. My life was enough like fanfiction as it was.

Eventually, Karin was able to work her mouth enough to ask, "What...what's going on?"

"Here's the deal, Red. I just killed your teammates. You can either come with me and defect to Konoha or die right now. If I were you though, I'd pick the option where you get to meet your only living relative, Uzumaki Karin-san."  _"Other than Nagato, that is."_

"What...what are you?" she stuttered in terror as she looked toward her fallen team mates.

"I'm no one of any significance," I answered.

"No...Why don't you...why don't you have any chakra?" There was a note of curiosity in her voice.

"That's not important right now. Look, Red, I don't have all day. I still have to get scrolls to pass this stupid test. Are you going to come with me or do I have to kill you?" I asked impatiently.

"Are they really dead? They still have..." Karin poked one of her team mates, who let out a groan despite being paralysed.

I formed a tiny bit of chakra in my hand and used it to activate the seal containing the Kubikiribocho in my sleeve. I brought the sword down clean through the neck of the young genin. His head rolled a couple inches away from Karin, who screamed.

Unfortunately, no one was around to come to her aid. If the other genin knew what was going on, he wisely chose to play dead. It would be important that someone report back to Orochimaru.


	66. Chapter 66

" _Jesus Christ, I thought Sakura was annoying. This girl...I just want to strangle her. Now I understand why Sasuke didn't mind spearing her with the Chidori to kill Danzo,"_  I thought to myself as Karin incessantly asked me questions as she followed me through the Forest of Death.

"Are we there yet? What is my cousin like? How do you know who I am? Why do you have chakra again? What does Konoha want with me?"

" _Remember, Haru. Good cop, bad cop doesn't work if you kill her. Just gotta reach Naruto and let him win over his cousin."_  I just ignored her and followed my crow. I trusted Naruto's social skills far more than mine. He could make friends with just about anybody.

I kept my eye out for any signs of other teams, although I doubted I'd be able to notice anything before Shino's bugs noticed me. It would only be a little longer until I could dump Karin off onto Naruto. I'd just have to endure her shrill squawking until then.

* * *

"Hey, Naruto!" I said as I dropped down from the trees to meet Team Kurenai. I dropped the struggling Karin onto the ground.

"Hey, Haru. Who...is this?" Naruto asked as he crouched down and ripped the duct tape off Karin's mouth.

Still bound in layers of ninja wire, the redhead screamed "I'll kill you!" She wriggled toward me to bite my ankles.

"I'd like to introduce you to your cousin, Karin Uzumaki. She'll probably be living with you after the exam." I walked over to Hinata and petted her on the head. "How are you doing Hinata?" I looked over to the silent Aburame, "And how are you, Shino?"

Hinata smirked and pushed my hand away, saying, "We're doing just fine." We both pulled off our hoods with matching smirks.

I handed her Karin's scroll. "Do you need this one?"

"Yes! Thank you, Haru-kun!" Hinata exclaimed happily.

"No problem. Can just guys do me a favor and keep Karin with you until the end of the exam? You should be able to finish no problem." I turned to Naruto and said, "After the exam, talk to the Hokage. He'll sort things out for you. I gotta go check on my teammates. Hopefully Sakura and Sasuke haven't messed things up."

Before I left, Naruto exclaimed, "Wait! I want to talk to you about something..."

* * *

The two of us walked alone in the forest. Naruto finally asked, "Have you noticed anything different about Sakura? I asked her about it and she just avoided my questions."

I simply shrugged and said, "Sometimes people change, Naruto. You can't expect her to always be the same girl you knew while you were growing up."

A dead crow fell to the ground in front of us. We looked up to see a pale-faced ninja with slick, black hair and a thick rope for an obi. He dropped to the ground.

I steeled myself and greeted him, "It's nice to finally meet you, Orochimaru-sama."

"I've heard a lot about you, Haru-kun," Orochimaru said with a terrifying smirk. "I was in the neighborhood and decided to pay you a little visit and meet you for myself." I always believed that the paleness in his face was because of face paint. But I was wrong. His skin simply came that way.

"Haru, do you know this guy?" Naruto asked me, not understanding the danger we were in.

I tried to smile. "Yes. I've been expecting him, although I wasn't sure whether he would show up."

"You've been expecting me?" Orochimaru laughed in a way that sounded like a sickly groan. The curl of his lips lingered on his face as he spoke, "Your manners are passable but it seems you need to be taught the meaning of respect."

The Sannin whipped forward and a throng of snakes sprouted from his arm, slamming into me at at lightning speed. I barely had time to block with both of my arms before being blown away into a tree dozens of meters behind me.

Naruto leapt to my defense. A pair of clones held down Orochimaru as Naruto prepared to toss a couple Rasengans at him. Orochimaru commented to himself, "So this is Jiraiya's student." Unfortunately, before Naruto could launch his attacks, he was swallowed whole by a giant snake.

" _That'll probably only hold Naruto for a few seconds."_  I stumbled forward, unsure if I had any brusied ribs. Judging from the pain it was a distinct possibility. I put on my best face and said, "Aha, I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama. I was merely excited to see you. I'm afraid it's a bit early for us to meet, however." I heard a crow caw in the distance. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time later to discuss something I'd like to propose. I have an offer I think you'll be interested in."

It was evident that Orochimaru also knew that Jiraiya was coming when he glanced in the direction of the incoming pervert. "Hahahaha, how interesting! I was about to say the same thing. However, you should remember that I don't like it when people borrow my toys without asking."

Orochimaru's summon stopped thrashing about and violently spit up Naruto. The snake gave his summoner a nasty look before poofing away. Naruto groaned when he slipped on the slimy fluid he was covered in as he was trying to stand up.

"It is a shame I have to cut our first meeting short. I was going to give you a gift but it can wait until later. Don't disappoint me, Haru-kun. It would be a shame if you failed your exam because your teammates died," Orochimaru said in a teasing way.

Before I could respond, Jiraiya arrived. "Orochimaru! What are you doing here?" he yelled seriously. He was surrounded by a small squad of toads.

Orochimaru taunted his fellow Sannin, "Ah, it's been a while Jiraiya. I'd stay and catch up but I have an urgent need to be anywhere else right now. I'll be seeing you later...old friend..." He disappeared in a whirl of leaves and wind, his hoarse cackling echoing throughout the forest. Jiraiya's toads ended up grasping only thin air with their tongues.

"You and I are going to have a talk," Jiraiya angrily growled at me.

"Later. First, I need to find my teammates. Then you can ask me whatever you want." I had a bad feeling brewing in my gut since Orochimaru mentioned them.

Naruto finally stood up, wiping digestive fluids off himself. "Ugh, I'm covered in snake spit! What happened? What's going on? Why do you guys look so angry?"


	67. Chapter 67

" _Motherfucker."_

Standing between me and the prone figures of Sakura and Sasuke were the three Sound genin that Orochimaru ordinarily sent to test Sasuke. The leader guy with bandages over most of his face except for his eye was flanked by his two team mates, a guy with spiky hair and beady eyes and a girl with long black hair. I almost felt guilty that I recognized them but didn't remember their names.

Bandage-face growled, "You sure took your time getting here. If you want to save your comrades, you'll have to get past us. You better...what...what's going..." That was the last thing he said before I speared him through the chest with the Kubikiribocho. Lately, my favored genjutsu was hissing static that drowned out all sight and sound. I was pretty sure no one else on this world would understand what it meant for 'the cable to go out' but it was a quick and dirty illusion with which I was already extremely familiar. That familiarity made it easier to cast the genjutsu, I had long since discovered.

It was enough of a distraction to dispatch the first genin, who was still gurgling helplessly in the air. Even with my piddling kenjutsu skills, it was simple enough to kill a completely unaware target in the few seconds before he could break out of the genjutsu. I shook the body off my giant sword and, before even the leader genin's death throes were over, I dashed toward the other male genin who was already rubbing his eyes because of my genjutsu.

"You bastard! Zaku, he's using genjutsu! Zaku! No!" the female screamed. I was intending to land my second death-blow but my sword missed its mark, ending up diverted into the ground next to Zaku by a half-dozen senbon which had been expertly thrown by the girl.

" _Perhaps I should have gone after her first."_

Before I could recover properly, Zaku put his hands together and dismissed the genjutsu. I remembered that he could do something with his hands and decided to fall back. Intending to find cover, I ran up a tree as I went through a series of hand seals. Just behind me, the tree splintered from a hail of senbon and waves of air pressure. I could feel the trunk giving away to gravity as I abandoned the falling tree and jumped to another tree, flying through a mass of leaves.

" _Is this the best they can do? Naruto and Hinata are way scarier than these punks."_

Two of my shadow clones dropped down to the ground, catching each of the enemy genin in a genjutsu. Maybe fire and brimstone would put some fear into their hearts, if seeing their comrade die wasn't enough to destroy their morale. As the pair screamed helplessly in the illusion, I readied my sword to cleave 'Zaku' with a single strike from above.

However, the boy managed to shake off the genjutsu and almost dodge my attack. On the ground was a large portion of his forearm and hand, surrounded by blood. Zaku was on his back, screaming and clutching his bloody stump.

"What...what are you?! You're no genin!" he barely managed to shout.

"That was impressive. I guess the genjutsu is weaker when it's cast by a clone. I didn't expect you to dissipate the genjutsu. It's almost a shame I have to kill you for holding my friends hostage."

Zaku pushed himself back with his feet, futilely trying to get away from me. He looked over at the girl who was still screaming, being burned alive in an illusionary world as she continually failed to break the genjutsu.

I felt kind of bad for him. I pulled back my hood and let my hair out from my coat. "Look, I feel generous so I'm going to offer you a deal..."

"You're a girl!" he shouted in wonderment.

Sakura's donated eye twitched a little. I picked up the bloody, dismembered limb and threw it at his head. It landed with a bloody splat on the boy's face. "Give me your scroll and defect to Konoha and I won't kill you and the girl." The girl in question was passed out on the ground, having succumbed to the mental imagery.

Pitifully, he clutched his arm to his chest. "I can't betray Orochimaru-sama!"

"It's your life or your honor. Ask yourself whether you think a man who would send you to meet your death at my hands genuinely deserves your loyalty. You should decide quickly before I decide for you."

He stared at his dead leader and unconscious comrade. He quietly spat out, "...okay." He grimaced in pain as he stood up. I watched him walk over to the dead body and retrieve the scroll. He threw it at me resentfully. "Now, let us go."

I gave him a smile. "Sure. Just don't think that you can go running back to Orochimaru. I can assure you that would be a terrible idea."

He picked up the girl with his one good arm and left without responding, carrying her over his shoulder.

When my clone popped, I realized what had happened. I rushed over to see for myself, as if I didn't believe myself. Both Sasuke and Sakura had curse seals on their shoulders. Medically speaking, Sasuke was fairly stable but Sakura wasn't taking to it very well.  _"Probably because of the implanted Sharingan."_  She shuddered in the throes of fever, calling out for Sasuke.

"Step away from the girl!" shouted a male voice. "I won't let you corrupt her any further!"

I jumped back to dodge a stream of shuriken that landed where I was just crouching.  _"An enemy? Where is he?"_  Before I could get my bearings, something kicked me hard in the back, sending me flying into a tree.  _"Jesus Christ, that hurt."_

"I shall walk in darkness so that the light of my life may continue to shine bright forever!" Wearing the exact same type of coat as I wore, a figure stood in front of me demonstrating a ready stance. "I will defeat you and free her from your clutches. Although it pains me to take away her chance to become a chunin, I can't allow the darkness to swallow her heart."

Whoever it was, he stuck his hand out and suddenly flew away, pulled by ninja wire. I put away my sword and readied myself. It would only slow me down if I couldn't hold down my target with genjutsu.  _"Who was that? Where did he go?"_  Somewhere nearby, hiding in the trees, was someone who could get the drop on me and was very capable of using that fact to beat me up.  _"Why couldn't I have been born into a romantic comedy instead?"_


	68. Chapter 68

"Alright, you want a piece of me?" I yelled at the cloaked figure who stood between me and my teammates.

My instinctive response to unknown threats is to cast a merciless genjutsu, plunging the target into some Doom-like dream and then assess the situation after they are busy dealing with hordes of imaginary video game enemies. When I sent out my chakra, I immediately noticed something was wrong. My genjutsu wasn't 'taking hold' like it should have. Yet the figure in the black coat that matched my own was still standing there.

I immediately tried dissipating any genjutsu that might be affecting me but it accomplished nothing. There was no foreign chakra to expel. Before I realized I had let my guard down in a moment of confusion, my upper arm crumpled and cracked as I was brutally kicked in the shoulder and sent tumbling along the ground to land meters away.

" _Was that a clone?"_  It was obvious that my arm was broken in several places but I didn't have time to check for sure as a barrage of shuriken kept me running from cover to cover, clutching my right arm. The projectiles came from random directions, making it impossible to find the attacker among the myriad tree limbs.

As soon as I had a moment to collect my senses behind a massive tree, I grit my teeth and shaped my fingers into the hand seals for a Kage Bunshin.  _"Make the seals, pump the chakra through...bingo."_  Two clones poofed into existence and dashed off, one to collect natural energy and another to check on my teammates. Then I returned to gripping my broken upper arm and trying to spot my assailant.

" _Goddammit. Fucking crows take up so much chakra."_  After spending the entire test supporting a flock of summons throughout the forest and splitting my chakra, I had precious little juice with which to fight, at least compared to what I ordinarily had. "Come out,  _fucking bastard!_ " I yelled to the empty forest while mending the bones in my arm with medical chakra. The disturbing sensation of healing my own arm was subsumed by my focus on deflecting any incoming attacks.

"Alright. Fighting sneaky isn't really my style anyways."

I immediately threw a kunai in the direction of the voice. It sunk solidly into a tree trunk.

"But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire," came the voice from behind me again. I turned around to see the cloaked enemy drop down to the ground. He dodged my second kunai with minimal effort, turning his shoulder slightly. "I expected more from you, Haru."

"Sorry, I've had a rough day. Can't we do this some other time?" I asked. My arm was mostly fine by this point but I was definitely hurting for chakra.

"It pains me to have to do this, but Sakura must be shown the light. I will defeat you and stop you from tainting her any longer." The ninja in the matching cloak pulled his hood back, revealing a thick pair of eyebrows and focused eyes.

"Rock Lee. Nice to finally meet you," I said.

"So you know who I am? I will tell you now, your tricks won't work on me." Lee took up a fighting stance. But before doing anything else, he reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He flicked the glasses open and put them on. Still in his ready stance, he turned his head toward me and bent his fingers, beckoning me to attack him. "Come, show me what you've got."

Internally, I groaned,  _"I have a bad feeling about this..."_  I put aside my curiosity regarding where Lee had gotten a pair of shades and took a fighting stance myself. I couldn't figure out why my genjutsu wasn't working against him but I wasn't going down without a fight. Simultaneously, the two of us dashed at each other.

Lee was tremendously strong. As he effortlessly blocked all of my punches and kicks, I struggled to keep up with his attacks. I was no slouch at taijutsu but Rock Lee was the budding master I expected him to be. And judging from my mounting bruises, he was more than capable of wearing me down.

I broke off the one-sided spar and tried to stall for time. With panting breath, I asked, "You realize that Sakura is in love with Sasuke, don't you?"

He spoke calmly, "Is that what you think? Don't tell me you're that oblivious."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Lee grew angry. "As if you haven't noticed how she looks at you. She used to be so bright and vibrant. But now...I won't let you hurt her anymore!" Lee's black coat fluttered behind him as he ran toward me, fist ready to pound me into dust.

It was like he was moving in slow motion. I could sense the chakra bleeding off his person. No wonder I couldn't catch him with genjutsu. All that chakra he was releasing was like a constant dissipation technique. I caught his fist in my palm. My clone had finally ended, supplying me with a plentiful supply of senjutsu chakra. "Now it's my turn."

I used my grip on his fist and threw him over my head into the ground. Still grasping his hand, I swung him around and let go, throwing him bodily through at least three tree trunks. I dusted my hands.

I was not expecting Lee to come at me with his entire body glowing with chakra. I tried to block his fist with both of my arms but it meant nothing to the young ninja with his hair standing upright and his eyes shining through the tinted lenses of his sunglasses. I lost count of how many times I hit the ground as I tumbled backward, blown away with the force of his punch.

" _Ugh...I forgot he could do that."_  I tried vainly to stand up but Lee was already there, my hair in his grip.

"You should give up now." He was still glowing with power, like a ninja possessed by a demon.

"Maybe after you pluck your eyebrows..." I said with a defiant smirk.

Lee launched me into the air. After taking time to beat me senseless in mid-air, he cried out "Shadow of the Dancing Leaf!" followed by "Front Lotus!" as he sent me into the ground.

I was pretty sure a lot of my body was broken at that point. If I wasn't in Sage Mode then there was a good chance I'd be out cold or dead. At this point, however, it didn't seem like an unpleasant alternative compared to how much pain I was in by being conscious.

"Why? Why doesn't she ever notice me? Why does she follow you?" Lee cried in despair. He was no longer glowing and the exhaustion was apparent in his voice.

"Because I can offer her something you can't," I answered. I couldn't move at all and I think my eye was starting to swell because everything was getting dark.

He raised his fist over my head. "What could you possibly offer her, you monster?"

I groaned helplessly, "Power...of the dark side of the Force..." I chuckled weakly as my eyes closed and all I could hear was an inhuman scream as something pulled Lee away.


	69. Chapter 69

"Something's different, Sakura. Did you change your hair or something?"

Sakura was standing over the bloodied pulp that was barely recognizable as Rock Lee and trying desperately to apply medical attention to his person. "Now's not the time for jokes, Haru," she snapped at me.

"Humor is how I deal with pain. And I'm in a lot of pain," I complained. I was pretty sure that most of my body was mangled and it was only a cruel irony that I was conscious at the moment. I didn't try to move out of fear of making it hurt more, if that was even possible.

"I'll get to you in a minute. I'm almost done with Lee," Sakura said, exasperated and disheveled. Her dress was torn in the back and the rest of her clothes didn't seem that much better off. I guess that's to be expected when you suddenly turn grey and sprout bat wings and claws. At least she had managed to turn back to normal before she killed Lee. At least I assumed Lee was still alive.

"You know this guy? How do you know him? Do you realize he almost killed me?" Oh, god, it hurt so much.

"Well, he kept asking me out but I rejected him because...you know...Sasuke. He wouldn't stop bugging me so I told him that I was too busy training with you and that he should talk to you. Just to get him off my back. I guess he got the wrong message or something?" she offered casually.

"Do you realize he almost killed me?!"

"Yeah...well...I saved you, didn't I?" she retorted. "Now, where are you hurt?"

I first explained which bones felt like they needed to be set and where the major contusions were. And then I began to explain the dangers of what Sakura had just experienced. Curse seals were called that for a reason.

"But I felt so powerful..."

"It's tainted power, Sakura. It's a bastardized senjutsu that isn't going to do you any favors in the long run. One day, I might teach you how to use natural energy properly but for now, remember, your curse form is going to eat at your soul if you continue to use it. I won't tell you not to use it but...just be careful. I suppose I'm going to have this talk with Sasuke later too, aren't I?" I sat against a large tree, double checking Sakura's work on my injuries. Lee looked like he'd survive too, the jerk.

Sakura looked mostly okay, if only needing a new outfit. "How do you know about what happened to me and Sasuke?"

"Let's just say that I'm familiar with Orochimaru's work. You met him, right?"

Sakura put her hand over her neck, rubbing at the seal. "Yeah..."

"I only had time to stabilize your chakra. Sasuke's probably still having a rough time of it, especially since his reserves are larger than yours. You have to take care of him for now." I reached into my sleeve and tapped a storage seal. "Here, this is the second scroll we need. Just keep us alive until the end of the test. Okay, Girly?" I handed her the scroll I took from the sound team.

"When did you...?" Sakura started to ask, looking at the scroll.

I rubbed my finger into one of the yet bleeding scraped I had on my leg. I smeared the half-dried blood into a rough circle on the tree and rested my palm over it. Light began to glow under my hand and when I moved my hand, a couple dozen crows flew out of the tree through a gleaming portal.

"Wake me up if they start to caw. I need to rest. Take care of us, Sakura."

She was already bounding away to retrieve Sasuke by the time I finished the summoning. I finally gave in to the exhaustion of being healed with medical chakra and sank into the crook of the tree roots to fall into darkness.


	70. Chapter 70

I woke up with a start. All around me was the squawking of crows. Every muscle and bone in my body felt sore and weary. "Sakura! Sakura, where are you?" I shouted.

"Sakura isn't here right now, Haru-kun. Would you like me to get her for you?" spoke a sinister and familiar voice.

"Kabuto. What do you want?" I snarled, still leaned against the base of a tree. Instinctively, I brought together a flaming sphere of chakra in my hand.

"Woah, there. I'm not here to fight. My master has decided that you are to pass this portion of the chunin exams. To that end, I am here to guide you to the end of the test." Kabuto pushed up his glasses as if to punctuate his professional and business-like demeanor.

"And why would he tell you to protect me?"

"Oh, something you don't know? Well...I suppose I can tell you this much. Otogakure intends to join Konohagakure. And my master intends to make your team the official liason between two village until the merger is complete, although I cannot fathom why he expresses so much interest in you specifically." Kabuto looked supremely annoyed whereas I was merely confused.

"Otogakure and Konoha? But Orochimaru hates Konoha..." I muttered, mostly to myself.

"Is that what you think?" the medic-nin asked blankly. Then he turned to greet Sakura, who was accompanied by a conscious Sasuke. "Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, I was just informing Haru of the situation. Are you ready to depart?"

"You guys don't actually believe him, do you?" I asked my teammates.

Sakura spoke first, "He could have attacked us for the scrolls at any point. Even when Neji and Tenten came to pick up Lee, he refused to hurt anyone."

Then Sasuke added, "I don't like it but we'll watch him for now." He rubbed at his neck and I could have sworn he seemed afraid for a moment, a fleeting moment.

" _We could just kill him now and no one would complain. This is probably the best opportunity we will ever get to take him out."_  The idea was tempting but I decided to keep my options open. With a sigh, I dismissed my Rasen-fireball and continued to glare at Kabuto. The final crow became silent as we began to make camp for the night.


	71. Chapter 71

Kabuto abandoned us as soon as we reached the central tower. In front of the final riddle, I asked for the scrolls from Sakura and opened them, only to be greeted by Kakashi's listless eyes.

He raised a hand into the air. "Yo. Good job guys. I wasn't sure if you'd make it this far. It's nice to see you aren't dead. Follow me."

He took us into the tower and I caught a glimpse of some of the other that had made it. Raccoon-face and his siblings had made it. The hot Suna kunoichi sneered at me when she caught me staring at her a bit too long. Naruto, Hinata, and Shino were talking to Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji across the waiting room. Kabuto's Sound team was here too, sulking in the corner by themselves. I didn't recognize his teammates though.

Kakashi spoke, "Sasuke, Sakura, come with me. I need to talk to you about what happened in the forest. Haru, I'll be back for you later. Wait here and don't cause any trouble."

I was slightly offended. After all, I had only caused a small portion of the total trouble so far. "Understood, Kakashi-sensei," I acquiesced. Sakura looked worried and Sasuke looked annoyed but they followed Kakashi through a nearby doorway without arguing. Left alone, I decided to walk toward my friends.

"Hey, Haru! You passed! Awesome!" Naruto said, patting me on the back in congratulations. "Woah, what happened to you?" he asked, pointing out my various bandages that adorned most of my body.

"I got my ass kicked by a secret rival I never knew I had. What about you guys? How was your test?" I noted that Karin was nowhere to be seen as I sheepishly removed my hood.

Ino and Hinata looked worried when they saw the bandages on my neck and chest but I knew it was nothing to worry about. Between Sakura and Kabuto, the only thing they couldn't fix was probably decapitation. Luckily, Shino broke the silence. "The test was not particularly difficult. Other than a single encounter with a Kumo team wherein we obtained our scroll, it was uneventful."

"You guys were lucky. We had to go through three teams in order to find the scroll we needed," Choji added. "I thought we were going to run out of snacks before we were ever going to find an Earth Scroll."

"I don't think it's even possible to eat all the snacks you packed, Choji," Ino sniped. "Oh, that reminds me, thanks again for the storage scroll, Haru."

"Don't mention it. Storage seals are the only fuinjutsu I know how to do," I admitted.

"Where's Sakura? And I guess Sasuke too. Where did your jounin instructor take them?" Naruto asked. "Sakura's fine, right?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine." My mind raced for an excuse behind my placid smile. "Kakashi-sensei just had to talk to them about a special technique."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Then why aren't you with them, Haru?"

I scratched the back of my head, noting that I could use a shower to get rid of some blood and dirt that was deeply caked into my scalp. "Well, I don't have...um, I can't do it?"

Shikamaru seemed dissatisfied with the answer but thankfully he wasn't going to ruin the pleasant meeting by asking too many questions right now.

"Hey, Ino, I want to talk to you about something later, but I think I see Kakashi coming to get me." Sure enough, the rest of my team had come back to the waiting room and I waved goodbye to the small clique of genin. "Lead the way, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

He lead me to a suspiciously small room with a single table and only two chairs. He sat in the far chair. "Please, sit down, Haru."

After failing to sense any unknown chakra or find any traps, I gingerly sat across from my masked superior and asked, "Did I do something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

I could only see his eyes and the outline of his jaw but he seemed weary. "I'm just having second thoughts about my hands-off teaching method."

"I don't really understand. I think Sasuke and especially Sakura have both gotten a lot stronger in the last few months."

"It's just that I didn't have anything to do with it," Kakashi noted.

"You seemed busy," I offered.

"That's not the point. Haru, I want you to be honest with me right now. Not because I'm your jounin instructor but because I ... your future might depend on it. Can you do that, Haru?" The white-haired man seemed completely sincere despite the momentary slip in his words, hinting at something else he could have said.

"That depends on you, Kakashi-sensei. You say you want the truth. Are you sure you can handle the truth? Are you sure that you can face the truth and not falter or blink but stand firm and resolute in front of the side of reality you would rather ignore forever? Because as you are, I don't think you have that strength right now."

Kakashi had a blank look in his eyes. "What are you talking about Haru?"

"Look inside yourself, Sensei. Ask yourself what you are running away from."

"Haru, I wanted to ask about you. I wanted to know what you life was like before the academy. How did you grow up? Who raised you?"

"You and I both know that the orphanage only produces chump ninja destined for the genin corps and people like Orochimaru. Why do you care so much? I raised myself and I put that past behind me. I am who I am. And as long as I am an effective ninja, I don't really see why it's your business."

"You raised yourself? What about the Yamanakas...?"

"I worked for the Yamanakas to pass the time. That's all. They aren't my family. I'm sure you know I don't have any."

Kakashi was silent for a long moment. I was growing annoyed at the conversation.

"But how did you raise yourself? Your file said you left the orphanage at four..."

"You know they call it a Kekkai Genkai. But it's not really. What it really is...is that I know a lot of things. I know a lot of things about Konoha, about Naruto, and about you. I know about your father, and your teammates...and I know that you aren't ready for the truth yet."

The man weighed his words carefully, considering both me and what he wanted to say with equal measure.

"Try me, Haru."

"You left Obito to die. You didn't even have the decency to end his life. You just left him under that rock..." It was then that Kakashi punched me in the face, knocking me out of my chair. On the floor, I wiped a spot of blood from my lip and retorted, "I knew you were not ready."

Once I was again seated in the chair, I waited for Kakashi to continue the conversation. It was a shame, but I didn't think he was ready to hear what Obito had become. One day, he would be. But not now.

"Tell me what you know about your parents," he said, as if he never attacked me.

"When a guy and a girl really like each other, sometimes they have a baby. Six months later, they got themselves killed by the Kyuubi. What more is there to know?" I still had no idea where Kakashi was going with this conversation. Sakura and Sasuke hadn't been gone nearly as long as I had been.

"Your mother and father died protecting the Hokage. I'm sure you probably know the Yondaime was Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze. And just as...Obito and Rin...were my...teammates...so were your mother and father the Yondaime's teammates."

"That's...interesting," was all I could come up with to say. This revelation just threw doubt on everything I thought I knew about the Kyuubi's attack and Naruto's birth. That bothered me more than learning I had some more irrelevant backstory that tied me to this world.

Kakashi still held the same seriousness he had started the conversation with, his mask of levity completely forgotten."Something you don't know? Hm. Anyways, before I go any further, I want to ask you something. Why exactly do you want to become a ninja, Haru?"

"Because it's the only option I have, Kakashi-sensei, if I want to survive. I have to do a lot of things I don't want to do in order to protect everyone. And a ninja is just the first of many things I have to become..." was what I said, omitting the final portion,  _"So that the heroes can win in the end."_

Kakashi seemed to take in my answer for a moment.

"Haru, Minato was my Jounin Instructor when I was young which is why I knew your parents. And before your parents died, they asked me to take care of you if anything happened to them."

"What?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Haru, I'm your godfather," Kakashi intoned.

My brain stopped to process that statement. "Bullshit."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you were growing up. I couldn't...I was busy with...work for the Sandaime..."

"You're telling me that you left me to rot in an orphanage because you couldn't deal with being a godfather?"

"Maa, it's not like that."

"I'm pretty sure it's exactly like that, Hatake." I stood up and turned to leave.

"Haru, wait," the jounin said.

I surrounded myself in chakra that would bleed out from my person and cause anyone affected to see dark mists and shadows around me. It was just angry habit to wear a genjutsu. But it was only for show. It wasn't real power. I would have to wait a bit longer for that.

"I think we're done talking. I've lived my whole life without you or anyone else to help me. I think I'll continue to manage on my own. Thanks for nothing, Godfather." I knew I should have expected nothing less from Kakashi, the broken soul that he was, but for some reason I still took it personally. The feeling of being abandoned seethed in my chest.

I stormed out of the room.

* * *

Apparently everyone was staring at me, even the Suna siblings.

"What?!" I shouted. Then I realized I was still wreathed in genjutsu. I let go of the illusion and briskly walked away, desperate to be alone for a while. Any door would be fine.

Before I got far, Ino stepped in my way and said, "You wanted to talk to me, Haru?"

" _Man, I swear she gets prettier every day."_

"Not right now, Ino. Just leave me alone. Don't follow me." I put my hood up and continued around her to find solitude until the preliminaries. I looked forward to maiming the poor genin who got paired against me.


	72. Chapter 72

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke asked. He had found me sulking, leaning against the railing over the arena where I was sure we were about to fight in the preliminaries for the exam.

"Kakashi just chewed me out for what happened in the forest," I lied. It was childish of me to get so upset at the jounin for leaving me to rot in an orphanage. I was never promised anything more and I managed to survive on my own. Still, the prospect of having literal family burned in my mind like a heavy regret that refused to be pushed away.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Bullshit. Tell me what really happened."

"What makes you think..."

"Because you're a terrible liar," Sasuke immediately answered. "Now tell me the truth."

"I just found out something unpleasant about my past. It doesn't really matter. I'll get over it soon." I continued to stare out at the wide, open room and I wondered who I would have to fight.

Likewise, Sasuke stood next to me, also leaning with his arms crossed over the railing, looking out at the same view as if he too could see the future. "It's been about six years, hasn't it?"

"Something like that," I answered.

"The problem with you is that you try to do everything by yourself. You talk a lot about teamwork but in reality, you're a pretty selfish person," he stated factually.

"Yeah," I answered.

"If you need help with something, you can just ask."

"I'm sure the heir to the Uchiha clan has better things to do than sort out the petty annoyances of a clanless genin."

Sasuke sighed. "You'd be surprised, Haru. Anyways, don't think that I don't know you well enough to tell when something is wrong. It's insulting to my skills as a ninja."

I continued to silently look ahead to the near future until it was time for the preliminaries and we had to return to the main room.

* * *

"Shut up, woman!" Kiba shouted into his teammate's face.

"Kiba, you're such an ass!" a female genin shouted back.

Akamaru simply whimpered while sitting on top of Kiba's head.

"If it weren't for me, we would never have made it here!" Kiba continued to shout.

"If it weren't for you, we would never have gotten lost on the way here!" the female genin shouted back.

Simultaneously, they both turned to their last teammate and shouted, "Hibachi! Who's right?"

The third genin shrugged and merely offered, "Sure?"

I felt bad for this Hibachi. I didn't expect Kiba to make it through the forest of death but I was happy to see he hadn't been left behind because I took his place in the Rookie 9. They had made it just in time too, becoming the seventh and final team to pass the second stage of the chunin exam.


	73. Chapter 73

The first fight was between Ino and Sakura. I had collected plenty of senjutsu chakra while waiting for the preliminary matches to begin.  _"No punk-ass genin is going to get the drop on me this time,"_  I thought bitterly, remembering how Rock Lee had beaten me so easily. The acrid memory of defeat still burned in my chest. Along with my disappointment in Kakashi, my mood was still sour and all I wanted to do was get my fight over with.

"Begin!" shouted the sickly looking shinobi proctor.

" _Shit, doesn't that guy die later? I gotta check my notes."_  After 12 years, my memory for the minor details was beginning to fail me. Sometimes I wasn't quite sure whether I was working from memories or simply recognizing anime cliches as I live through them.

Sakura rushed in, assaulting Ino with taijutsu, honed after years of reluctant participation in spars with me. Ino fended off the attacks expertly, having sparred for years with her pink-haired best friend. Both of them seemed to be enjoying the fight simply as another of their practice sessions.

"Is that the best you've got, Sakura? Must be nice to have a couple of handsome boys on your team to do everything for you."

"You know I've got more, Ino. Are you ready for this?" Sakura responded, breaking off the constant stream of physical attacks to cast a jutsu. With her fingers extended together and straight, her hands became enveloped in the light blue glow of her chakra scalpels. Ino responded by casting the same jutsu, mirroring the technique with slightly more purple chakra.

I glanced at Kabuto who was scowling at the girls. I wasn't proficient enough in chakra control to perform the technique myself for use in battle but that didn't mean I couldn't teach them Kabuto's signature move.

The two girls danced around each other, swiping with their extended fingers like Chinese Kung Fu masters. I heard Naruto ask aloud, "What are they doing?" The rest of the crowd was also impressed as the two female friends struck and parried with practiced skill. It seemed like forever in the couple minutes they fought, until Ino managed a glancing blow on Sakura's upper arm, causing her to scream in pain and clutch her arm, letting go of the technique.

Panting heavily, Ino pushed her blond hair out of her face and asked, "Had enough yet?"

Although I knew she didn't have enough time to repair the muscles that Ino scrambled, Sakura refused to give up, "I'm going to make it to the finals no matter what! I can't let you stop me, Ino!"

That was when Lee said the ominously incorrect words, "She fights to impress her love! How lucky Haru must feel! Oh, beautiful Sakura-chan, one day I will free you from that evil man!"

" _I still can't believe that guy managed to beat me up."_

"I told you! There's nothing between me and Haru! That jerk has nothing on Sasuke-san!" Sakura screamed at Lee and pointed to me and Sasuke. Both Sasuke and I buried our faces into our palms and groaned.

"Hey, don't call Haru a jerk!" Ino shouted at Sakura. "Haru is way nicer than your stuck up boyfriend."

"Yeah, right. That demon? Nicer than Sasuke? As if."

"I'm going to make you eat those words and apologize to Haru after I win, Sakura."

"You can try, Ino-chan."

Ino went on the attack, seeking to disable the rest of Sakura's limbs. But even with one limp arm, Sakura was miraculously able to dodge all of Ino's chakra scalpel attacks.

Sasuke immediately became very interested in Sakura's newfound ability. So was Kabuto. And all the jounins.

" _Goddamit. I told her to wait until the finals before she started to use the Sharingan. Doesn't she understand this is just the preliminaries?"_  It wouldn't take long before people started to ask where she got her new red pupil.

Ino screamed in frustration as none of her attacks were able to connect. Sakura would always dodge at the last possible moment with the least possible movement. Eventually, Ino noticed it. "What is wrong with your eye, Sakura?"

Sakura reflexively covered her eye with her good hand, having now realized she was using the Sharingan. "Shit. I wasn't supposed to..."

"Is that the Sharingan?" Ino asked.

"I'll tell you about it later, Ino."

"What did Sasuke do to you?"

"It wasn't Sasuke..." Sakura said, frantic but unable to explain fully. Instead she changed the subject, "That doesn't matter right now. We have a fight to finish."

"I thought we were friends! Why didn't you tell me? Not only did you copy my hairstyle, you're keeping secrets from me! Wait...I get it now. You got a Sharingan to get closer to Sasuke! And you tried to seduce Haru by looking like me!"

" _Why does everyone think Sakura likes me? This is so dumb."_  I just continued to groan into a double facepalm.

Ino continued to shout at Sakura, "I'm going to kick your ass, you two-timing bitch. And you know what? If you want my hairstyle so badly, you can have it." Dramatically, Ino held her ponytail in one hand and sliced it off with a kunai with the other. She flung the strands of hair at Sakura. "There. Are you happy? Enjoy it because I'm going to prove to you that Haru won't fall for a hussy like you so easily, you copycat!"

"For the last time! I'm not interested in Haru! I can't stand that jerk! But if you won't listen to reason, I guess I'll have to beat some sense into you. And I'm not a hussy!" Sakura took a fighting stance. Despite being unable to use her left arm, one chakra scalpel was still a dangerous weapon and with the Sharingan, she still had a decent chance against Ino.

Ino tried her best to take down Sakura with kicks, punches, chakra scalpel slashes, kunai, and shuriken, but Sakura had an inhuman ability to dodge with her implanted Sharingan. I wondered how long Sakura would be able to sustain the chakra drain from the Sharingan. Both of the girls seemed nearing exhaustion.

Suddenly, Sakura froze and took a chakra scalpel to her right arm, which went limp immediately as Sakura screamed in pain. A glowing stream of Ino's chakra was traveling through her discarded hair on the floor and was wrapped around Sakura's ankles.

Ino wiped away some sweat from her brow. "How do you like my Chakra Hair Trap Technique? I'm sorry for pretending I was angry with you but I told you that one way or another, I was going to make you apologize to Haru." She formed the special hand seal for the Shintenshin, looking through her fingers at the immobilized Sakura. "I'm also going to make you forfeit the match. Sorry, girlfriend."

Sakura struggled to free her legs, but was unable to pull them away from the hair-covered floor. She seemed helpless, unable to use her arms or lift her feet. But in the instant Ino's body slumped to the floor limply, Sakura bent completely backward at the knees, flailing her useless arms backward to keep her balance. Of course, Ino's technique ended at that moment, meaning Sakura fell completely onto her back as her feet were no longer glued to the floor with Ino's chakra.

"Ouch," Sakura said as she rolled over, managing to stand by using her elbows and knees. "That was close. Sorry, Ino, but I think I win this one. And for your information, Haru is still a massive jerk," she told the unconscious Ino.

The proctor, Hayate, declared Sakura the winner.


	74. Chapter 74

After the first preliminary match, Ino had woken up from her failed technique and had returned to her team who was doing their best to cheer her up. Sakura had also rejoined the rest of Team Seven on the balcony catwalk.

"You almost ran out of chakra," I told Sakura.

Pinky Pie scratched her head sheepishly, "Yeah. But I won! I could see her chakra coming at me and my body just moved on its own. It felt awesome!"

Kakashi solemnly asked, "How is the seal doing?"

"It's...okay. I could feel it...pulling...like it's thirsty for my chakra. But I mean it was just a little distracting. I didn't notice Ino's trap because of it." Sakura adjusted the nape of her shirt to better cover the ink on her neck.

Sasuke was strangely quiet, merely glancing at me and Sakura as he sat against the wall.

"You knew, right?" I asked Sasuke.

"Yes. Did you think we wouldn't notice?" he responded.

"Haha, well, it's a good thing I have the heir to the Uchiha clan on my team to smooth things over with the police."

"You should be more careful, Haru. People notice you more than you think."

"I just do what needs to be done. I can't help it if I stand out a little. It doesn't concern me whether people get offended over a little thing like an eyeball or two."

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit when he heard 'or two'. He was still puzzling the meaning of those words when Hayate, the sickly shinobi, announced that the next round was starting. Two names lit upon the board on the far wall. "Round two will be between Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji."

I spoke to Sakura, "Listen, no matter what I promise that I will take responsibility for the Sharingan. I will take care of it. Don't worry."

"You'd better," she replied. Then she hesitated for a moment, "Are you sure, Haru?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I won't let it come back to you."

Kakashi said nothing to me. Instead, he watched the entrance to the testing room as the Hokage and Jiraiya walked in, conspicuously late. Naruto grinned and waved to his godfather like a lunatic.

" _I wonder what could have kept them so busy?"_

* * *

"Begin!" shouted the proctor as he waved his hand down and jumped away.

Hinata and Neji took identical stances across from each other. Hinata was wearing her ordinary jacket and had a hesitant look on her face. "I'm sorry, Neji-niisan," she spoke sadly before activating her Byakugan with a single seal.

"Sorry for what?" Neji growled as he mirrored Hinata and activated his own Byakugan.

"I'll try to end this quickly... Heavenly Fist Style: Kneel Before Me!" Hinata shouted, curling her fingers upward in a sinister gesture as dozens of tendrils of chakra snaked along the ground toward Neji's tenketsu. The invisible chakra strands went straight for the tenketsu in Neji's legs to paralyze him. But as a fellow Byakugan user, Neji jumped backward into the air, wary of the unfamiliar attack.

"What the? What is this technique?" Neji asked aloud in surprise.

While the boy was in the air, Hinata unleashed her next technique, "Heavenly Fist Style: Rain of the Heavens!" She pointed her palm at her target, sending homing needles of chakra at Neji from all directions.

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heavens!" Neji shouted, spinning in the air and sheathing himself in defensive chakra.

"You can't keep this up forever, Neji-niisan," Hinata taunted as she continued to send shards of lethal chakra at her cousin even as he landed on the ground.

"How?! How are you doing this? How are you so strong?" Neji yelled in frustration.

Hinata answered, "I worked hard. And I had help from a friend who believed in me. Now, Neji-niisan, please shut up while I kick your butt."

Never before had I ever felt so proud in my entire life. I only wished Hiashi was here to see his little girl all grown up.

Neji spoke seriously, "I know I can't win like this but I refuse to give up. I can't be defeated here. I didn't want to do this but..." His spinning defensive technique zoomed toward Hinata as he shouted, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

The instant the protective chakra dissipated from the air, Neji had unleashed a devastating series of blows to Hinata's tenketsu. The technique only lasted a few seconds but Hinata was blown backward and landed prone on the ground.

"Sorry, Neji-niisan. You won't be able to defeat me that way," Hinata spoke as she hopped back onto her feet, unaffected by the barrage of attacks. "Now it's my turn. Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Neji was subjected to the same series of precision blows he had just inflicted. I knew from experience it felt like chunks of your body were exploding every time you got hit. Unlike Hinata, Neji's tenketsu were open and vulernable. The stunned crowd watched Neji hit the floor.

"No...why...I can't..." he managed to groan while on the ground, desperately trying to get up.

Hinata walked up to him and placed her fingertips on his chest. "Please rest now," she said as she knocked out the helpless boy.

"The winner is Hyuga Hinata," Hayate announced before checking Neji's pulse.

"That was quick," I said to Sakura who was one of the many people still flabbergasted from the fight. Her techniques weren't anything new to me. I had helped her develop a ranged version of the gentle fist. It just seemed like the obvious next step to take her family style. As I had promised Hiashi, I also taught her how to seal up her chakra in order to counter the gentle fist. Hinata was a lot better at controlling her chakra than I was though.

Naruto was screaming, "Good job, Hinata!" while Shino nodded his approval and Kurenai simply smiled.

After Neji was carried out and the murmurs of the crowd died down, my name lit up the board along with Kabuto. "The third match will be between Haru of the Leaf and Kabuto Yakushi."

" _Finally."_


	75. Chapter 75

"So, Kabuto, how about afterwards we get some soba or some ramen. I'm in the mood for noodles." I grinned and started stretching my arms.

Kabuto glared at me, giving his best disgusted look. "No."

"Come on, man. Loosen up. We're friends, aren't we?"

"No," he repeated.

"Then why did you give me that Sharingan? I thought that's what friends do. They give each other eyeballs."

"Stop talking."

Everyone in the audience was intensely interested in our conversation.

"So who are you working for these days? Orochimaru? Akatsuki? I always wondered whether they have decent health care plans."

"Shut up, you imbecile!"

"Hey, Kabuto, level with me. Are you interested in girls yet? Have you seen that girl from Suna? Isn't she crazy hot?" I intentionally didn't look at Temari lest I be frozen in stone from her glare. "No? Do you prefer guys then? As much as Sakura will argue otherwise, Sasuke is still single. You still have a shot, you know."

"I'll kill you!" he screamed in fury as he charged toward me. His hands were already covered in a film of deadly chakra ready to slice into me.

"Bring it on." I rose into the air, suspended on reinforced chakra strings in a technique vaguely inspired by Doctor Octavius. In each of my hands, balls of flaming chakra spun into being.

"HOLD IT!" shouted Jiraiya's deep voice. Both Kabuto and I whipped our heads toward the angry Sannin standing among the audience. "Damn brats. You, four-eyes," he said, pointing to Kabuto, "wait until the match starts." And then he spoke to me, "And you, Haru, your parents would be ashamed to see you acting this way."

"And I'm supposed to care why?" I'd rather fight an enraged and sloppy Kabuto than a calm and collected Kabuto.

Jiraiya continued with absolute seriousness in his voice, "Also, the use of Senjutsu chakra is against the rules of the exam. It's too dangerous for genins to try to use Senjutsu or for genins to fight against it."

"Wait, are you talking about me?"

"Yes, now hurry up and pull the natural energy from your chakra so Hayate can start he match," Jiraiya ordered.

I threw away my twin flaming Rasengans, making a pair of moderately sized craters nearby, before I started the process of splitting my chakra into its component parts and filtering out the natural energy. "This sucks."

"Are you saying that Haru is a sage? A genuine sage?" Kabuto asked, pointing at me rudely with disbelief in his voice.

"I don't know if Sage is the right word for Haru. More like ambitious dumbass," Jiraiya yelled back.

"I'm still here, you know." It took much less time to dissipate natural energy than to collect it. "I just like to think of myself as self-motivated."

I could only hear Jiraiya mutter something about "motivated my ass."

Eventually I took my place across from the medical-nin. Kabuto looked composed and ready. I pulled a katana from the spine of my coat.

"Maybe, in another universe, we could have been friends," I offered.

"I'd never be friends with someone as insufferable as you," Kabuto said with a sneer.

Hayate signaled with his hand, "Begin!"

Both Kabuto and I leapt back from each other, creating a safe distance to evaluate each other. I held my sword at the ready, unsure whether I could hold off Kabuto's chakra scalpels. A few weeks of instruction under Kakashi had helped but I was still a beginner.

I immediately cast a genjutsu, making Kabuto think he had spontaneously combusted.

"You should know better. Half of Konoha knows how to protect themselves from genjutsu, thanks to you. It's interesting that your preferred illusion involves the horrific immolation of your opponent. I wonder what that means?"

All it meant was that I wasn't feeling very creative at the moment.

I summoned a Rasengan in my right hand and threw it at Kabuto. As I expected, he dodged it easily but he was almost caught off guard when I tugged on a chakra string, pulling the Rasengan back like a yoyo. He lithely weaved around each pass of the Rasengan with ease.

"I have yet to be impressed," he spoke.

I threw my katana into the air and used a chakra string to suspend it in the air, ready to strike when Kabuto's guard was down. Now free, I made another Rasengan in my left hand and sent it at Kabuto. He seemed hard pressed to dodge both of them as they followed like the fists of an angry god.

"Better, but still not what I was expecting. Show me the skills that made a fool of Kakashi of the Sharingan and defeated the Demon Zabuza. Everyone speaks so highly of you. I'm just not sure that you deserve all the praise," he commented as he backpedaled around the arena, leaving a trail of small craters in his wake.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kabuto."

"Sure you don't. But this is getting wearisome." The medic-nin stopped circling the arena and rushed at me, ready to slice my organs with his chakra scalpels.

I drew a kunai in each hand and steeled myself for a taijutsu fight.

Kabuto was faster than me. The only thing that kept me on an even footing with him was the bowling ball sized orbs of spinning chakra that orbited my body, forcing Kabuto to back off before he could penetrate my defenses. I blocked the edge of his hands with the edge of my kunai, knowing that if he got one solid hit on me, it would change the fight in his favor.

He jumped over my leg sweep and received a face full of Rasengan.  _"Fuck yeah,"_  I thought to myself as he tumbled away. Despite a bleeding head injury, he managed to use the momentum of the roll to bring himself to a stop on his feet.

Neither of us spoke, concentrating fully on the other's actions and formulating counter-attacks. I barraged him with a handful of kunai from my storage seals while trying to limit his movements with my Rasengans. Likewise, Kabuto flung the occasional senbon doubtlessly coated with unpleasant poisons. The stalemate continued for at least half a minute before I found an opening and brought my katana down from the sky through Kabuto's torso. He staggered a few steps and dropped to a kneel.

I let go of my techniques and waited quietly to see whether Hayate would declare the match over.

Despite the sword sticking out of his stomach, Kabuto smiled. "Very interesting fighting style," he said as he pulled out my katana and gripped it as to wield it himself. Blue chakra glowed around the stomach wound and the skin seemed to seal itself, leaving only dark blood stains on his shirt. He gave the sword a test swing and spoke, "Quality craftsmanship. A shame it amounted to nothing more than a fancy kunai."

He rushed at me, obviously trained in kenjutsu. I didn't have enough time to make another Rasengan. Instead, I threw a smoke pellet to the ground, creating a cloud of smoke to obscure my Kage Bunshin. Unfortunately, Kabuto must have had some way of sensing chakra because he managed to hit all 3 of my clones and myself with senbon. I pulled out the senbon in my right arm, futilely hoping that the growing numbness in my arm wouldn't spread to the rest of my body because Kabuto definitely wouldn't give me enough time to coax out the poison with medical techniques.

I felt some resentment when Kabuto pointed my own katana at me and asked, "Do you have any more petty tricks up your sleeves?"

"Just massive fireballs." I summoned the largest Rasenfireball I could in my left hand and threw it at my opponent.

"Only a fool tries the same thing over and over again and expects the outcome to be any different," Kabuto remarked, preparing to dodge the obvious projectile.

Before the fireball reached Kabuto, I directed the mass of chakra into the ground, causing it to destabilize and explode into a mass of rubble and cinders and smoke. Using the distraction, I slammed my left hand into the ground and summoned as many crows I could with my remaining chakra.

Kabuto was completely enclosed in a cloud of dust and feathers as the crows went to work pecking at his eyes and marking his position for me. I raised my left arm and released the storage seal on the Kubikiribocho, shooting it out of my sleeve at insane speed into the center of the cloud.

I muttered to myself, "That's why I used a bigger sword this time."

The birds all flew away simultaneously, disappearing with another rain of feathers.

"Did I win?" I asked aloud as the dust settled. The arena was littered with craters and rubble and black feathers. In the middle was Kabuto's body, cleaved in half at the waist. The Kubikiribocho was embedded in the ground several meters away, pristine despite a trail of splattered blood leading to Kabuto's corpse.

I fell to my knees, half from shock and half from exhaustion.  _"Goddammit."_

I suddenly felt very tired due to using up all my chakra so I decided that I would deal with the repercussions of ruining the timeline after a short nap. I vaguely heard some yelling but I ignored it in favor of passing out on the floor, figuring they'd get around to fixing my arm eventually while I was unconscious.

" _On the bright side, at least I won..."_


	76. Chapter 76

I woke up in a hospital bed. I hated hospitals. They were the most boring, unfun places ever invented, and thus hell for a shinobi. I flexed my right arm, satisfied that it felt normal. I did a quick sweep of my health with a diagnostic jutsu before hopping out of bed and checking the medical clipboard hanging nearby.

"Not bad. Looks like they took care of everything. I'm just going to give myself a clean bill of health and head out." I etched my initials on the doctor's signature line and returned the health chart to its place on the wall.

" _I need some clothes and then I need to find the Kubikiribocho. I also gotta make sure they disposed of Kabuto's body properly. Don't want him coming back from the dead unexpectedly."_

I wriggled some chakra into the lock on the window, making tiny strings of chakra to manipulate the tumblers.  _"Man, chakra strings are so useful. MacGyver, eat your heart out."_  They didn't put much effort into the lock on the ordinary hospital rooms, figuring that it would be impossible to keep obstinate shinobi in bed against their will if they were healthy enough. Eventually, the latch turned with a click and I was free, albeit dressed in a hospital gown.

* * *

Apparently the store owner was used to shinobi shopping in all states of dress. As long as I had my ninja headband, I could get my purchases deducted from my account while in Konoha. I found myself a cheap red men's kimono and a pair of hakama along with some sandals. In the mirror, I looked even more like the Battosai than when I was younger, only my hair was a darker red and instead of a scar on my cheek I had an eye patch over Sakura's eye.

" _I guess they know I don't have a Sharingan. They would have checked."_  It didn't really matter anymore. The other eye was still hidden in my fridge although I had learned my lesson and put it in the mayonnaise jar instead. I didn't have any particular use for it but it was safer with me than with anyone else.  _"Maybe I should get Naruto a Rinnegan?"_

If only I didn't have ANBU watching my every move at the moment.

* * *

"Hey, Ino. How are you?" I asked, popping my head into the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Haru! What are you doing here?" Ino asked from behind the front counter, looking up in surprise from her magazine.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to get something to eat with me. I'm not a big fan of hospital food."

"Um, sure! Just let me ask my dad," she said happily. "Daddy, I'm going out with Haru for a little while. Watch the store, okay?" she shouted into the back of the store. Putting her magazine under the counter she exclaimed, "Okay, let's go."

"Wait a second. Did you say Haru was here?" Inoichi said as he passed through the curtain separating the storefront from the living quarters. "Haru! What are you doing here?"

"I kind of wanted to talk to Ino about something. Is that a big deal?"

Inoichi narrowed his eyes at me before turning to look at Ino who was beginning to become confused. "Haru, if something happens to Ino because of you..."

"Don't worry, Yamanaka-san. I'll make sure no harm comes to Ino. And I'll have her back to you soon." I gave him a reassuring smile.

He sighed deeply and said, "Alright, get lost you two."

Outside the store, Ino asked, "What was that about?"

"Who knows? Maybe he thinks we're going on a date?"

Ino suddenly blushed and turned away. "Is this a date, Haru?"

As we walked to the café, I considered my answer carefully. "If this were a date, I'd take you somewhere a lot better than lunch at Makoto's."

She seemed content with that explanation.

* * *

"Hello, ladies. What would you like to order today?" the waitress asked pleasantly, holding a pad of paper and a pen in hand.

I sighed and ignored the mistake. "Can I have some black tea and some plum onigiri please?" I ordered without looking up from the menu.

In a far more congenial tone, Ino said, "That sounds nice. I'll have the same thing." She gave the waitress one of her perfect smiles, as if making up for my lack of manners. "Thank you."

When the waitress was gone, Ino slapped me on the arm from across the table. "Would it kill you to have some manners, Haru?"

"Maybe. I didn't want to risk it," I said, cracking a small grin. "Say, Ino, do you think I look like a girl?"

She rubbed her chin in mock contemplation. "A little? Not really though. If someone were just looking at you, they'd say you were kind of...handsome. But sometimes your mannerisms and the way you talk can be kind of feminine. It's just...how you move and a lot of other little things. It doesn't help that your hair is almost as long as mine."

"Thanks for being brutally honest, Ino."

"Welcome, Miss Haru."

We both grinned at each other.

"How is your  _English_  coming along? Did you get through that notebook I lent you?"

"Yeah, it was a fun story. The whole Shinigami thing was interesting. Soul Society isn't a real place, is it?"

"Maybe somewhere far, far away, there could be a place like that. Who knows? Probably not on this world though."

There was a moment of quiet contemplation on both sides of the conversation.

"Haru, you killed that guy in the chunin exam, right?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Well, I need to make sure that his body gets properly disposed of. I'll ask Jiraiya about it later."

"No, I mean, are you okay, Haru?"

"Okay with what?"

"With killing someone for the first time."

"Oh. That was my second time or third? I'm not really keeping count. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Normally, people have a harder time with it."

"I don't see any problem with eliminating someone if it's necessary. It's not like I go out of the way to kill people."

"I suppose you have a point. We're supposed to be ninjas after all. I just feel like you've become kind of distant lately. Since we're on different teams, we don't see each other as much anymore."

"I'm the same person I've always been. And just because we aren't always together doesn't mean I'm going to forget about one of my best friends."

Ino looked downward, but smiled. I didn't really understand what that expression was supposed to mean. I only had a second to study it before the waitress returned with a large tray of food and tea.

I decided this was a good time to ask what was on my mind.

"Ino, are you in love with me?"

She immediately spit a mouthful of tea into my face and kimono at high pressure. "What? No! No. I mean, I thought we were just friends right?"

"Well, I admit that I'm fond of you. You're attractive and intelligent and have a vivacious personality and I feel like I can trust you."

"What? Why are you...that's nice and all but why are you bring this up now?" Ino asked, obviously flustered.

"I just can't always be there for you, Ino. That's why I can't ask anything more of you than friendship. I know I'm...different...from most people but you've stuck by me all these years and I just wanted to tell you this now in case I never get another chance to in the future."

"What's going on, Haru? Is there something wrong? You can just tell me! You don't have to keep secrets from me. I can help. I'm a ninja too."

The pickled plum rice balls were sweet and salty and I took a long time savoring my first bite. I couldn't bear to look at Ino at the moment. "I should probably go." I put down some ryo on the table and made to leave.

"Oh no you don't! If you leave without telling me what's going on, I'll never forgive you!"

"It's probably for the best that way," I said solemnly as I left without looking back.

* * *

Outside the restaurant, I spoke aloud, "Alright. Thanks for waiting. I'm ready to go now."

A pair of ANBU appeared in front of me. One of them nodded and I followed them without protest to the Hokage Tower.


	77. Chapter 77

"If it isn't my four least favorite adults in the same room," I began. The ANBU shinobi had brought me to a meeting in the Hokage's Office. I didn't recognize a few faces in the crowd of important figures, but I had a bone to pick with the ones that I did know.

"Haru..." the Hokage tried to speak.

I cut him off. "No, I have something to say. And if I don't say it now, I don't know if it'll ever get said.

"Danzo-sama, whatever you're planning, just give it up. It's probably just going to end up destroying the village from the inside out. I know you mean well but you seriously don't understand the whole Will of Fire thing at all. And that's why the Nidaime passed you over for the Hokage job. Because you don't get that it's not obedience that makes a village strong but devotion to each other that makes a village strong.

"Orochimaru-sama, I have no idea what you're doing here in this room but I've always wanted to tell you that you're doing it wrong. Even if you were immortal, you would never learn every single jutsu. What you need to do instead of discover a single jutsu that can do anything, or find a way to create jutsu extemporaneously so you can essentially cast any jutsu you could possibly imagine.

"Kakashi-sensei, you need to get over Obito and Rin. Obito isn't even dead. Madara Uchiha pulled him from the rubble before he died and now Obito is probably acting as Madara's proxy in Akatsuki. And Rin had the Three-Tails sealed inside her by the Kiri ninja so that when you brought her back to Konoha, the biiju would escape and destroy the village. That's why she put herself in the path of your Chidori. She chose to kill herself to save the village. So grow a pair and deal with it.

"And Jiraiya-pervert. You need to stop fucking around and ask Tsunade out on a date already. You're probably going to die in the next few years anyways so you might as well hit that while you can. Neither of you are getting any younger."

As I finished venting, everyone was staring at me. I was still in a terrible mood and didn't care for useless platitudes.

"Haru..." the Hokage ventured to speak again.

"What? Did I miss something?"

"Orochimaru and Danzo are here to negotiate peace with Otogakure and the eventual integration of the Sound into Konohagakure," he informed me.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked, surprised.

Snake-face chuckled to himself in his chair. "Heh, heh, heh, heh. Well, I have no objections now. It's clear that he's the real thing," he said in his raspy voice.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, both suspicious and still bewildered.

Danzo was the one to answer. "Child, when I...received...your eye, it was clear that you were no ordinary child. I have seen things that are beyond what I thought were possible. Surely you too have seen the future in your dreams."

"Dreams? What dreams?" I hadn't had any noteworthy dreams since...

"I have seen things, awful things which must never come to pass. In order to prevent these visions from coming true, I have persuaded Orochimaru to return to Konoha."

I hadn't been expecting that. "That's...good, I guess."

Jiraiya snorted from his chair on the other side of the room. "I still can't believe you think that brat is the Child of the Prophecy."

I hadn't been expecting that either. "No, no, nononono, I'm not the Child of the Prophecy. You're thinking of Naruto. Not me. Definitely not me."

That caught Jiraiya's attention. "You know about the prophecy?"

"The one from the Great Toad Sage? Yeah. But I don't know why you think I was the Child of the Prophecy. You never taught me anything. Except when you gave me that scroll that taught me how to use the Summoning Jutsu. Or when you let me know that it was safe to teach myself Senjutsu. Or that time when I followed you and Naruto to the hot springs and you taught us where the...never mind. It's Naruto. For sure. Not me."

Jiraiya had turned pale. Compounded with the face paint, he looked ghastly.

"Wait, is that why you never wanted to teach me anything? Seriously?" It would have explained why he never wanted anything to do with me.

One of the unfamiliar shinobi cleared his throat. "Ahem, we've heard it from the boy himself that he's not the Child of the Prophecy you were worried about. And I think all parties are satisfied that Haru is capable of some level of precognition through his Kekkei Genkai as confirmed by Danzo-sama. Now that those matters have been taken care of, perhaps I could have a chance to talk to the boy in private?"

The Hokage grimaced. "I suppose you do have business with Haru to deal with. I am satisfied with the validity of Danzo's claims, seeing as much of what he's forewarned has been collaborated with Inoichi's report and..." He stared straight at me. "...with other sources of information regarding happenings in the ninja world. You may take him away, Fugaku."

" _Well, shit."_


	78. Chapter 78

I followed Fugaku outside of the room, despite having a dozen unanswered questions on my mind. The two silent ANBU followed behind, apparently wary of me escaping as I had from the hospital. I felt underdressed without my black coat or any of the weapons sealed into the embroidery inside its sleeves.

Fugaku talked as we walked, "I've heard very few things about you from my son. But it is evident that he respects you, which is why I am interested in talking to you personally. As the head of the Konoha police force, it is my duty to know of potential threats to the village and ensure the safety of its citizens."

We arrived at an unmarked door to a room on the opposite side of the Hokage Tower.

"And as head of the Konoha police force, I also have a small amount of sway with the ANBU." Fugaku opened the door for me. I walked inside, as did Fugaku, who closed the door behind himself. He bade me to sit at the small table of the interrogation room. "This is about as much privacy as I can get us. The microphones are off so please don't hesitate to speak freely." He pointedly ignored the large one-way mirror that made up one of the walls of the room.

I stared at his deep jowls as I sat across from him. He looked old and serious even as he smiled. "What would you like to talk about, Uchiha-san?"

His arms were folded upon the table and he leaned in on his elbows. "Please tell me about yourself."

"I have often asked myself why I do things, what my motivation is that I persist in living and maintain relationships with others and seek to improve the conditions of my life. I have examined all the possible reasons and found that they all derive from a single assumption, that life is important. For some people, it is the lives of others that they live for. For others, they live to protect their own lives. But nearly everyone has this blind spot, this assumption that goes unquestioned and endows meaning to every other belief while never being justified itself.

"I have stared too long at this problem and under my scrutiny it has crumbled to dust. And I was left without a reason for anything. And thus I had to suppose my own reasons for doing things. And I decided that I would just do what I felt like doing. Not by any particular notion of right or wrong but simply by my own personal aesthetic. In another way, you could say that I've never tried to justify my actions to myself or to anyone else because I wasn't capable of finding a reason that was good enough.

"That is why, whatever you decide you must do, I will not hold it against you. But likewise, I don't intend to let anyone stop me from doing what I also must do. I guess you could say that I'm an antisocial person."

As the tomoe in his eyes spun slowly, Fugaku let out a genuine sounding laugh, "Hahahaha, it is strange to see a young man who is so sure of himself. Most of the time people tell me their name and age, maybe their combat specialty. Rarely do I get such a philosophical answer."

"Then perhaps you should tell me what's really on your mind, Uchiha-san."

He sighed deeply and the smile faded from his face. "Hypothetically, what would you do if someone stole a priceless family heirloom but used it to help someone else?"

"That depends on how useful the heirloom was to myself. Either I'd take it back or forget about it."

"That's a very reasonable answer. I suppose if I wait a few years the problem might solve itself. Sakura seems like a nice girl. May I see...?" he asked, gesturing with his fingers at my eye patch.

I raised it up and slowly opened my right eye. There was an unnatural difference between Sakura's green iris and my own dark brown eye. It would still startle me occasionally when I would wake up and see it in my mirror.

"Eye replacement surgery is no easy task. Your teammate does good work. There's not even a scar. I suppose she will make good use of Shisui's father's eye. Shiro was a good man. It was disconcerting to hear that his eye had been repurposed but it seems like it would be more trouble than it is worth to retrieve it." Fugaku leaned back in his seat. "So let us just say that you owe the Uchiha, more than just a simple favor. Do you understand me?"

I replaced my eye patch. "Yes, sir." Apparently he wasn't aware that I still had a Sharingan in my refrigerator. If he wasn't going to ask, I wasn't going to mention it.

"And I don't think it needs to be said that you aren't going to repeat anything said here to anyone else."

"No, sir."

"And that bring me to my other problem." All the light and joviality disappeared from Fugaku's eyes. "Shimura Danzo has taken my son from me."

"Itachi."

"Yes, Itachi. However, this matter is far more complicated than simple bloodline theft. It seems Itachi is not as deceased as the reports indicated. He escaped Danzo but for some reason hasn't contacted Konoha."

"I'll keep an eye out for him." I only realized how carelessly I spoke after the words had left my mouth. For a moment, I wondered whether he knew I was planning on leaving the village. I wouldn't put it past the Sharingan to read minds.

"No. It's not that. It's Sasuke." Fugaku's eyes were grim and narrow. "Did you promise Sasuke that you would help him kill Danzo?"

"If I did?"

"Would you keep your promise?"

"Yes."

"I suppose this meeting is over then. Let's head back, shall we?" Fugaku's Sharingan disappeared with a blink, replaced with the tired, dark eyes of a worried father. "It was nice talking to you, Haru."

"It was nice talking to you too, Uchiha-san."

" _Terrifying, but pleasant."_  It wasn't every day that I discussed murder with the chief of police. I hoped that next time he would have the courtesy to put on some tea.


	79. Chapter 79

Fugaku led me back into the Hokage's office. The clan head seemed pleased and I had no desire to change that so I kept my mouth shut. As we entered the door, he announced, "I have returned with the boy as you asked, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage looked weary as he glanced longingly at the pipe on his desk that was yet to be lit. "Thank you, Uchiha-san. I trust you and Haru have come to an acceptable resolution to this 'impugnation of clan honor' you mentioned?"

"For now, yes, although I will be keeping a close eye on him," the Uchiha said pointedly.

I tried my best not to sweat visibly under the scrutiny of both men. Thankfully, Fugaku bowed and left the office. I vaguely wondered which ninja was scarier between the two of them.

"I won't ask what that was about if you tell me I don't need to know," Sarutobi said to me as he picked up his pipe.

"It's not important," I replied.

"Please, sit down, Haru," the Hokage offered as he began to light his long, thin pipe. He took a puff and let out a sigh. He asked frankly, "So, what do you make of Orochimaru and Danzo?"

"Orochimaru is a snake and I can't see any benefit for him in rejoining the village and relinquishing control of Otogakure. He's up to something and Danzo is a fool for trusting Orochimaru, assuming Danzo doesn't have some ulterior motive for himself. This whole thing reeks of suspicion."

"I agree. But Otogakure was only established less than a decade ago and the ANBU have yet to infiltrate deep enough to provide much information. Orochimaru, as you warned, trusts only those that he has personally seen trained. I don't have enough evidence to risk a war when, on the surface, they are offering peace."

"Right...and it's not because Danzo was your best friend and Orochimaru was your student?"

Sarutobi glared at me before sighing. "As the Hokage, I cannot allow my personal feelings to override my good judgment. As much as I wish those two had a genuine change of heart, I realize that they have something planned."

"But it would be easy. Team up with Jiraiya to take out Orochimaru and hand over Otogakure to Danzo. You circumvent Orochimaru's inevitable betrayal and Danzo gets a new personal army to keep himself busy with."

Again Sarutobi sighed deeply, "I know you're young but this world...isn't as black and white as you believe it to be."

"It would be so simple. I have yet to see the downside. I told you that you die at his hands in my memories. You could change things so that doesn't happen. Why don't you?"

"Haru...are you afraid to die?" he asked me.

"...no. Not as long as I accomplish something with my death. It doesn't mean that I want to die though."

Sarutobi smiled, "Well, I'm not afraid to die either. But in my case, I've already accomplished many things in my life." He continued to talk between puffs of tobacco, "This might be hard for you to understand but all I can say is...I want to believe in the future, that our fates are not written except by our own hands. And I want to believe in my friend, that he could do what I could not."

I couldn't bring myself to argue against that. I supposed I was doing something similar myself. Instead, I asked, "Hokage-sama, what am I?"

He chuckled and said, "When you get to be my age, you'll realize that no one can answer that question except for yourself."

"No, I mean, why do I know all these things?"

The old man paused for a moment before answering, "I think that if anyone were to be a prophet, it should be someone who would do his best to make things better. Is that not you, Haru?"

"It should have been Naruto instead then. Or someone else."

"Perhaps." He drew a long breath and blew a trio of smoke rings. "But from what you've told me, it sounds like everyone else already has a destiny. Maybe that's what makes you important."

I wished that he had offered tea. I would have definitely appreciated some tea at the moment. "I'll do my best to convince Tsunade to return to Konoha."

"I'll be counting on you, Haru."

"One last thing, Hokage-sama. How is Mizuki doing? Is he staying out of trouble?"

"He is doing fine on his new team. He'll be ready on the day of the chunin finals."

I leaned back in the chair. Now all I had to do was survive the chunin exam. "Oh yeah...who am I fighting in the finals?"

"Gaara of the Sand."

I groaned internally,  _"There goes my chances of dating his sister."_


	80. Chapter 80

"Yo, Haru, do you want to go to the hot springs?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, how did you find me here?" I asked with my eyes still closed from meditating in lotus position. I had no intention of passing out from chakra exhaustion again like I did in the Chunin Exam preliminaries. When I opened my eyes, Naruto was sporting a terrifyingly friendly grin.

"You always come here when you want to take a nap," he said, leaning against a tree.

"I'm busy, Naruto. Can't it wait until after the finals? I only have a couple weeks left."

"Come on," he pleaded. "Everyone is going to be there."

"What do you mean by 'everyone'?" I had to ask.

"The whole gang! My team and your team and Ino's team. Didja hear that? Ino's going to the hot springs. So you'll come, dattebayo?"

"I'm busy training for the finals." I had a new jutsu I wanted to work on after I finished meditating. I also hadn't seen Ino since I left the hospital. I hadn't really talked to anyone since then.

"So am I but the old man says that visiting the hot springs is the perfect thing to refresh the mind when you get tired from training," Naruto said, still grinning.

I rolled onto my back and stared at the sky through the trees of Konoha's outskirts. "Fine, I'll come." It was rare for so many of us to be free at the same time. Maybe I would make some good memories there.

"Awesome! I'll see you there after dinner," he said as he began to wave goodbye.

I called out to him, "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"You like Sakura, right?"

He paused for a moment before he answered, "I guess it's pretty obvious, ain't it?"

"Have you ever asked her out?"

"What? I couldn't do that! You know she likes Pretty Boy."

"Why should that stop you, Naruto?"

"Wait a second. Before we start discussing my love life, maybe you should go ask out Ino. Jeez, I don't get why you two don't just get married already."

Naruto and I both paused. The plucky blonde had me there.

I sighed and relented, "Fine, I'll see you later, Naruto."

* * *

"Ahhh, what are girls doing here?!" a male voice shouted as Haku and I entered the springs area.

"It's nice to see you too, Kiba," I said.

"Oh, it's you, Haru. Wait, does that mean...she's a guy too?" Kiba asked as he pointed to Haku. His other hand was shielding the eyes of the small canine atop his head.

Haku introduced himself, "My name is Haku. It is nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Haru's?"

Kiba continued to shout, "Guys aren't supposed to have long hair and wear towels around their chest." Akamaru yipped and Kiba added, "And Akamaru says that you smell like girls."

I retorted, "He's my roommate. It's too weird to only cover my waist if he covers his whole chest. Not that he really has anything to hide. I guess. I don't know." I didn't like to think about Haku's gender if I could avoid it.

Naruto shouted from several springs away, "We're over here!"

"I'll see you around, Kiba. Let's go, Haku."

Kiba could only wave goodbye weakly. I sniffed my hair.  _"Smells normal to me."_

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Shino were sitting in a spring, quietly relaxing in the hot water. Or rather, Sasuke and Shino were trying to ignore the nearly naked blonde as he searched for a hole in the wooden barrier between the men's and women's baths.

"I want no part of this," Sasuke said.

Shino was chuckling to himself as he relaxed in the spring. I assumed it was because of Naruto's antics but it was hard to tell because of his sunglasses.

"Naruto, this is a bad idea," I warned.

"But the old man does this all the time!"

"Exactly."

"Come on, I want to find out what's so special about girls taking a bath. I'm old enough!"

I slid into the water. "I thought you said you wanted to relax, Naruto. Getting brutally murdered is not conducive to relaxation." Haku entered and sat beside me. "Oh yeah, Shino, this is Haku."

Shino seemed distracted, absentmindedly saying "Nice to meet you." Nearby, Sasuke seemed uncomfortable at the presence of the feminine boy.

Naruto pointed at me and loudly asked, "Woah, Haru, where did you get those gnarly scars?"

I held up my right arm to show Naruto the simple cross shaped scar on my wrist. "These are storage seals. I designed them myself."

"But aren't seals supposed to be made with ink?" Naruto asked.

I answered. "I've never been good with ink seals."

"Wait, does that mean you did that to yourself?"

"…yeah."

"Huh. Check this out," Naruto said as he closed his eyes and concentrated. The ceremonial seal on his stomach slowly became visible. "Isn't it cool?"

Sasuke was staring intently the seal. Haku chimed in, "I've never seen a seal like that."

Naruto grinned, "I didn't know you were into guys, Sasuke. No wonder you never went after Sakura."

The Uchiha turned his eyes away and sputtered, "Shut up."

Naruto's expression turned extra devious as he put his hands together and shouted, "Sexy Jutsu!"

At this point I splashed the proto-pervert with a bucket full of spring water, interrupting the technique. "Girls aren't allowed on this side of the springs."

"That's it!" the drenched Naruto exclaimed. "All I have to do is disguise myself and I can go see what goes on in the girls' side! I'll finally get to know whether the old man was telling the truth."

Sasuke and I both groaned and facepalmed.

"I'll see you later guys," the blond jinchuriki said as he cast the technique again, turning into a busty blonde jinchuriki and running up the divider wall between the gender segregated areas.

"No, Naruto! Wait! Stop!" I shouted, running out of the water after Naruto. I used chakra to run up the wall and to keep my towel on my body. When I reached the top of the wall, however, it was just me and a large bucket gaining the ire of dozens of kunoichi. The next thing I knew, I had been pelted with every kind of brush, bucket, and bottle. As I fell to the ground, I saw the transformed Naruto waving placidly from one of the pools.

I splashed into one of the springs. Eventually I floated to the surface and looked up to see a familiar face. "Hey, Ino. Did you know there's a beetle on your…"

"DIE, HARU," the naked Ino shouted. As I flew through the air, I was glad that Konoha had such good healthcare.

* * *

When we arrived at home for the evening, Haku closed the front door behind us and asked, "Do you really have to leave?"

"I've already told you that I'm going to leave the village," I reminded as I put away the bath things and started boiling water for tea.

"Why are you so willing to give up everything you have here?"

"It's probably because I'm a selfish person."

"But you're not a selfish person. You let me stay with you when I had nothing, when I even tried to kill you. I don't understand. You never ask anything of me..."

"I don't want anything from you, Haku."

"Why is it so easy for you to leave everything behind?

"...I suppose it's because I don't really belong here."

"But there are so many people here who would be sad if you left. You have friends here and..."

"If you're worried about them then take care of them for me."

"But I'm useless! If I were more useful...if I were a better tool...then I wouldn't get left behind...Zabuza would..."

"I already told you that you didn't kill Zabuza."

"Yes, I did. It's because of me. He was protecting me. If he didn't need to hide me, if he didn't need to take care of me, he wouldn't have died. I killed him. I was useless. I killed him. I killed him and I don't deserve to live."

"No. I killed Zabuza. I knew what was going to happen. I decided I was going to kill him. There was nothing you could have done to save his life."

"Does that mean you knew about me too? You knew that he was my whole life and..."

"Yes," I interrupted.

Haku fell to his knees and wiped tears from his eyes. Eventually he spoke, "I should hate you."

"If that's what you want, go ahead." I filled two cups of tea and set Haku's upon the table.

He slowly climbed into the chair and reached for the tea mug with a trembling hand. "I don't...understand. You took everything from me. Why can't you just take my life too? Why do you keep giving me everything except what I want?" He repeated, "I should hate you..."

"It would probably be easier if you did."

He asked coldly, "Easier for you or easier for me?"

I didn't answer and he didn't ask any more questions as we sipped tea in silence.


	81. Chapter 81

Genjutsu is a subtle art. Despite whatever image I envision as I cast the genjutsu, I can't know for sure what the target is experiencing. It is like guiding someone by the hand through a dark room. All I knew as Gaara was encased in a sphere of sand was that I was still leading him through the illusion.

The crowd was roaring. They were expecting a fight, not Gaara clamming up and taking a nap. I simply stood across the battleground and fed Gaara's mind what I could remember of his mother.

The sickly judge shinobi was hesitating to call the match. This was supposed to be a demonstration of strength between the shinobi nations. One fighter was dusting his coat while the other was surrounded in sand. The delay suited me just fine. I was preparing another genjutsu, a much larger one, while currently casting one upon Gaara. The more time I had, the more effective it would be, and the more time my real self would have to escape Konoha.

* * *

"Are you ready, Mizuki?" I asked the older ninja.

"Are you sure about this? I'm supposed to stab you and then report to the Hokage that you're stealing the Scroll of Sealing?" he asked.

"Yeah. You have that giant shuriken, right? Just use that."

"And then the Hokage is going to commend me and I'm going to get reassigned? I can really leave that blasted academy?"

"The Hokage explained everything to you already, right? So hurry it up already. I have places to be," I said impatiently. Perhaps I should have tried to explain the plan to Mizuki in advance.

"He just said that this was a special mission and that I was supposed to obey your orders but you're going to get in huge trouble if you steal the Scroll of Sealing," Mizuki warned, starting to gradually understand.

"Listen. I am doing you a favor and giving you another chance at life. You shouldn't waste it. Maybe get with a girlfriend or consider why you started teaching in the first place. I don't really care." Being around this man was no less exasperating as when I was a student under him.

"But why would you…"

"Aw, fuck it. Give me that shuriken," I ordered, taking his oversized shuriken from his back. I stabbed it into my shoulder and then passed it back to a surprised Mizuki. I already began healing the wound when I reminded, "Wait five minutes and then head to the Chunin Exam stadium. Go tell the Hokage a convincing story about how I'm a traitor to the village and you did your best to slow me down."

I left the speechless Mizuki and headed toward the scroll. I knew he would be the perfect actor. A little bit of sprinkled blood would collaborate his story. I just hoped I could get out of the village before any Uchiha or ANBU found me.

* * *

"What is this? That's not how…I don't believe…mother…" Gaara suddenly wailed from his sand sphere as my genjutsu finally ended. That was my cue to cast the second genjutsu.

Many of the civilians and less experienced ninja were already falling asleep, lulled by the drifting of black feathers obscuring their vision. Several of the Konoha ninja were still awake though, either having expelled the chakra or been resistant to it in the first place. It didn't really matter as I didn't have enough chakra left to maintain this clone body, which ended in a poof.

* * *

"Haru! Where are you going?" Naruto shouted as he trailed behind me, only a few tree branches behind.

"It's an adventure, Naruto! I'm sorry I can't take you with me. Make sure to protect everyone, okay? And take care of this!" I replied as I tossed my metal headband to the only person who knew my favorite way of escaping the village.

He stopped to catch it and I was too far away to hear what he was saying. And with that, I took my leave of Konoha.


	82. Chapter 82

Ino smashed her fist into her pillow. "Why?" she asked as she pounded her pillow again with her other fist. "Why?" she asked again as she struck the pillow again. Alone in her room, she plunged her face into her pillow and screamed. Ino only stopped when someone knocked on her door.

"Are you okay, Honey?" Ino's father asked outside her door. "They just announced that they're continuing the Chunin Exam finals in an hour. Don't you want to go cheer on your friend? Sakura needs you."

The reply came between heavy breaths, "Why should I? She probably knew Haru was going to leave. And she didn't tell me! I thought she was my friend!"

Inoichi tried to console her, "I'm sure she's still your friend. And that means she's going to need you too. Haru betrayed his squad and village. His squadmates are going to be suspected for a long time. It would probably mean a lot to Sakura if she knew she could count on you. Anyways, I think there's a customer out front…" he said, slinking away.

Ino groaned into her pillow face first.

* * *

Far from Konohagakure, a boy in a black coat stood in front of a foggy lake near the borders of Fire County. Despite being evening, clouds and fog gave the lake an ominous feeling.

"Should be the right place. It's close to where Rin died and it's between Konoha and Kirigakure," the boy muttered to himself. He stood on the edge of the water, reading a massive scroll. "Man, this seal is a piece of shit. It's so outdated and inefficient." Haru began tracing his finger over portions of the seal within the scroll. "No wonder you need so much chakra in order to be a jinchuriki."

He continued talking to himself as he went through the scroll. "The things the Uzumaki would have been capable of if they had CompSci 101 at ninja academy."

* * *

"Hello, my name is Haku. May I speak to Yamanaka Ino?"

Inoichi paused a moment to look at the feminine figure before his shop counter. "You're Haru's friend, correct? This isn't really a good time…"

"Then can you please give this to her?" Haku pulled out a western-style book. The cover was blank and the binding was handmade. "It was Haru's wish that Ino receive this."

Taking the book, Inoichi began to open it before asking politely, "May I?"

"It is irrelevant to me. But please give it to your daughter soon," Haku said, making to leave.

Peeling the pages apart revealed lines of unrecognizable characters, all scorched and etched into the paper as if the author used fire instead of ink. Inoichi gasped, "Wait! Why are you giving this to Ino?"

"I can only assume it's because Haru thought she'd be able to read it."

* * *

"Hey, Isobu, wake up!" Haru shouted across the lake. The low clouds of fog remained motionless. "Damn it. I guess this is the wrong lake," he muttered to himself. With a roar of frustration, Haru flung a massive Rasen-fireball over the water. The fog parted, leaving only clear are in the wake of the fireball.

"Maybe this was the right lake after all," he spoke. In the distance between the walls of fog, the silhouette of a massive creature was visible, quickly closing the distance between them.

"Oh, shit!" Haru shouted when he realized that a massive wave of water was building before the turtle demon. He threw a Rasengan into the center of the tsunami, exploding it into a spray of water. That didn't stop the humungous tailed beast's charge.

" _That chakra. I remember this feeling from twelve years ago. It feels like I'm drowning in it,"_  Haru thought to himself.

Isobu swiped at the young ninja, who dodged with a large backflip. "Woah, Isobu, hold on. I'm not here to fight you," Haru said frantically.

"Liar! You are not aniki! Aniki left a long time ago. Why do you have his chakra?!" The massive turtle demon shouted angrily. Haru could feel each word shaking his bones.

"I don't know who you're talking about!" Haru exclaimed, panic rising in his voice. Being mistaken for someone else was entirely unexpected by him.

Isobu swiped his arm across the water and sent another massive wave of water at Haru.

Instead of dodging, Haru stood upon the water and took the wave directly. When the water broke upon his body, he disappeared.

* * *

"You've disappointed me, Danzo. Both the scroll and the boy are gone."

"That's not my fault, Orochimaru. He's been working with Hiruzen. They planned everything to sneak the boy out of the village."

"That may be so. However, it is such that you have nothing left to offer me."

"That's not true. With Root and my secret facilities underneath Konoha, we can still…"

"As I said, you have nothing left to offer me."

"But the dreams…"

"There seems to be some truth to your claim that it sees the future in dreams. And the similarities to the Sharingan and Byakugan are fascinating. Regardless, despite what you say happens in the future, I will take my chances on my own."

"So this is the end of our little alliance then?"

"No, this is." Orochimaru snapped his fingers and from the floor, dozens of snakes climbed up Danzo's body, biting and paralyzing him and covering him head to toe in writhing lizards.

"It has been entertaining but I no longer need you to control Root. Do not worry. I will depose Sarutobi on my own and your dream will be realized when Leaf and Sound become one under my command."

Orochimaru reached into the mass of snakes and plucked a human eyeball before the human-shaped tower of snakes fell limply on the ground.

* * *

Haru surfaced, floating face up in the water. He spit out a mouthful of water and said, "I'm not here to fight you, Isobu." Haru's hood had fallen around his neck while he was under water. His long red hair flowed away from him as the boy lounged in the water.

"You even look like him," Isobu said.

"My name is Haru. I've come here to ask if you would be my friend."

"Friend?" the confused beast asked.

"Yeah. Friend. I'm going on an adventure and I need your help. Do you want to come with me and see the world? If you do, I promise you'll meet the one who will bring you all together again," Haru offered as he lazed on his back in the water.

"Will I get to see aniki again?" Isobu asked. Despite the deep and reverberating growl in which he asked, there was hope and curiosity in his voice.

Haru smiled. "Maybe. Why don't you tell me about him?"


	83. Chapter 83

" _So you're telling me that I look like Hamura Otsutsuki ."_

" _Yeah, except your hair is more red. And no spikes on your head."_

Haru sighed internally.  _"And you learned English from the Otsutsuki twins. I don't suppose you could tell me why the Sage of Six Paths and his brother know a language from a different world?"_

" _No?"_ Isobu shrugged internally.  _"It might have something to do with their mother maybe?"_

A groan tumbled out of Haru's mouth, startling the confused shopkeeper he was standing in front of.

Offended, the middle aged man spat out, "Is there something wrong with my fruit?"

"No. I'm going to leave now." Haru backed away rapidly, chastising himself for not being more careful when talking to Isobu in public.

The new jinchuriki was currently exploring the town of Tanzaku, the seediest hole in the entire of Fire Country. It wasn't a dump but it definitely wasn't somewhere you wanted to raise your kids. Haru was putting good money on a certain woman being inside one of the myriad gambling dens that surrounded him.

A pair of attractive women in loose kimonos whispered as he passed by them on the street. Being thirteen was a curse, Haru remarked to himself as he stole glances from under his hood.

Seeing a distracted outsider, a dirty street urchin bumped into the coated boy. Instead of finding a wallet however, the adolescent girl in rags was tripped and slammed into the ground with the boy's hand around her throat. She coughed and groaned in pain.

"I'm not in a good mood right now. Please leave me alone," Haru spoke gently as he rose from a kneeling position and began to walk away.

"Yeah, just fucking walk away… asshole…" the girl sputtered from the ground.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka stood before the Sandaime in the Hokage's office. Next to the Sandaime was an old man with bandages covering his arm and one of his eyes. Behind her was her father who was standing at attention.

Sarutobi cleared his throat and spoke, "Yamanaka Ino, please describe your relation to the missing nin Haru."

Ino could not meet the Hokage's eyes. "He was my friend, Hokage-sama."

The man next to the Hokage grunted and asked, "Is it true that he taught you some kind of language or code that is not part of Konoha's standard communication protocols?"

Ino looked to her father, who nodded in encouragement.

"I guess so. It didn't seem like anything suspicious. It was just something to do during class in the academy. I thought it was interesting," she shrugged. Judging from the faces of the old men, she didn't think that she was being implicated in anything regarding her ex-friend.

Sarutobi groaned and cleared his throat, "Ino-chan, what I am about to explain to you is an S-class secret and must not leave this room. Do you understand that against your honor as a shinobi of Konoha, you must not repeat what you are told here tonight?"

The two elderly men peered at the girl sitting nervously with her father standing at attention behind her. Ino's mouth twitched before she answered confidently, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi's face did not lighten at her answer. He merely explained, "This regards your young friend Haru. Since he was young, Inoichi and I have suspected that there was something unusual about the boy. Reports from the orphanage he grew up in and several shinobi who…"encountered" him in their duties mentioned that Haru was ingratiating himself with an important and impressionable village asset. Fearing that he might be an enemy infiltrator, I ordered Inoichi to examine Haru's mind for any signs of foul play. What he found was much stranger than anything we expected.

"Apparently Haru has had visions of an apocalyptic future in which all of Konoha, nay all of the elemental countries, are destroyed or enslaved by immensely powerful forces. Haru himself seems to be aware of some of the events fortold in his memories, however it was unclear from the mental probing where this foreknowledge comes from. As you know with memories this deep, it is possible he is only able to access these memories through dreams or in fragments.

"It might be possible that Haru's visions were merely the product of a deranged mind, if only they did not match an ancient prophecy handed down to us from the eldest shinobi toads. It speaks of the end of the world at the base of the great tree. Unable to ignore this terrible portent, regrettably, I ordered Shimura Danzo, this man, to abduct and investigate Haru.

"A series of events occurred in which Danzo-san received an eyeball from Haru which granted him a limited ability to see future events, collaborating the prophetic visions we received from the boy's mind and proving that Haru maybe be the child of the prophecy who is destined to either save or destroy this world. Except for the fact that Haru has claimed another boy to be the child of the prophecy."

Danzo's eyebrows furrowed and he coughed into his hand. "With that foreknowledge, I sought to dissuade the traitor Orochimaru from murdering the Hokage and instead convinced him to join forces with Konoha to fight this coming enemy."

Sarutobi continued, "Currently, Haru is acting on my orders to accomplish what he feels is necessary to prevent calamity from befalling us all. His current status as a missing-nin is simply a cover to allow him to move freely throughout the elemental countries."

Danzo stood up and placed his hand on the Hokage's desk to steady himself. "Despite having the ear of the Hokage, that boy has chosen to keep secret the exact details of his plan, simply stating that he has left you, Ino dear, everything that you need to know."

Inoichi handed Ino the notebook that Haku had delivered to her from Haru. "Ino…"

The Hokage then asked the confused blonde girl, "Yamanaka Ino, for the good of the village, will you please tell us what message Haru has left for you?"


	84. Chapter 84

" _One of my clones popped,"_  Haru noted to himself as he reviewed the memories he suddenly gained.  _"I hadn't found Tsunade but I was attacked from behind. Someone is looking for me."_

In his search for the future Hokage, Haru had narrowed down the list of gambling dens to a couple dozen likely spots. Unless something had happened back in Konoha, he should be well ahead of anyone from Akatsuki or Orochimaru's faction. He called back his clones and found a secluded alley in which to lean against a wall and meditate to top off his senjutsu chakra.

"Yo, kid, we've been looking for ya." Haru didn't bother opening his eyes. It was just a trio of street thugs. Less than genins. "This town belongs to the Shuei Gang. We hears you been making trouble. And we don't like that."

A chill wind spilled through alley, rippling the tail of Haru's coat. Without lifting his hood or removing his hands from his pockets, Haru asked, "How about I just leave quietly and no one gets hurt? Would you be satisfied with that?" Of course not, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"That's a pretty coat you got there. How'd you feel if…arggghghggh!" The threat ended suddenly when a pudgy dog wearing a Konoha headband flying-kicked the man in the head. The other two mooks were speechless.

The dog spoke in a deep, manly voice, "Oy, runt. The boss is looking for ya. Let's go."

Haru sighed and followed the canine summon to the familiar sight of his squad leader. "You're late, Kakashi-sensei. Did you have to attend a wedding or something on your way here?"

"I knew you wouldn't run from me, Haru. Now be a good boy and come back to Konoha."

Haru took his hands out of pockets and took a fighting stance. "I'm sorry, but I can't come with you, Kakashi-sensei."

"That's a shame." A near instantaneous roundhouse kick nearly caught the boy off guard. After blocking with his arm, Haru loosed his own kick at his latest teacher who disintegrated into a spray of water. From behind Haru, Kakashi spoke, "Ever since I first tested you, I thought you had potential." A pair of kunai connected by ninja wire whizzed by either side of Haru, wrapping around him like a bolas. "Maybe I shouldn't have let you take those bells from me," Kakashi taunted as he closed in on the boy.

From behind Kakashi, Haru spoke, "I know you let me win that day." The captured dummy scattered into a flock of crows. "I never liked that you went easy on your team. Sasuke and Sakura are not Obito and Rin."

A furious Kakashi turned slowly, whispering, "Stop talking about things you don't understand."

"I've already told you…" Haru started before needing to dodge a spray of shuriken. "Why don't you just accept that Obito is still alive?"

Kakashi threw his eyepatch onto the ground and whipped his fingers through a series of seals. "Multiple Lightning Clone Jutsu!" Half a dozen Copy Ninja with swirling Sharingan blazed toward Haru, flickering with currents of lightning where the chakra transformation was unstable.

"Rasen-fireball!" Haru shouted, spinning flaming death through the entire city street. Empowered by senjutsu chakra, the mass of fire pulled in everything that wasn't nailed down as it consumed all the nearby oxygen. The lightning clones where battered by debris and flares of plasma that arced around the rasen-fireball. Smoke began to fill the sky as the destructive technique ate its way down the street.

The real Kakashi countered with a wall of earth to hide behind as he dove into the ground. He reappeared underneath Haru and would have dragged the boy into the earth by the ankle if his target hadn't again dissolved into a flock of birds. Meanwhile, the fireball had changed course and was heading straight for the white-haired ninja.

Unable to find the real Haru, Kakashi flickered into the air to dodge the souped up Rasen-fireball. He flipped midair to stare at the orb of swirling fire with his red eye. The fireball again swung towards him. He grasped his own wrist and began to channel lightning chakra into his palm.

"Chidori!" he shouted, letting the electric current propel him out of the path of the fireball to land on a nearby rooftop. Trying to catch his breath, he watched the fireball about-face with annoying tenacity. At the same time, a dozen identical Haru appeared around him, each wielding a katana.

"Ring, ring, Kakashi-sensei. It's time to give it up," one of the Haru said smugly.

"Impressive indeed. If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have made you stay a genin," Kakashi retorted as he deflected a series of coordinated sword strikes from multiple angles using metal bracers on his forearms and heels. Meanwhile, the fireball barreled closer like a meteorite threatening to crater the city. "It's true then? Obito is really alive?" he asked seriously.

"Would I lie?" Haru answered grimly. Eventually there was only one Haru remaining. His hair flowed in the wind as a small inferno raged behind him. "You're going to have to get a lot stronger if you want to meet him again. Please protect everyone while I'm gone, Kakashi-sensei."

Using the massively increased speed and strength from sage mode, Haru smashed his sword into the man's chest, breaking ribs and stopping the jounin's heart with lightning chakra.

* * *

In the Hokage's office, Ino translated from the notebook Haru had left for her.

"Ino, can you water my plants? I will be gone for a long time and it would be a shame for them to die. I am sorry I left you behind. Can you tell Jiraiya something for me? It is hard to make him listen to me.

Yahiko is dead. Nagato and Konan are being manipulated. Akatsuki."

The Hokage asked, "Is that all?"

Ino spoke, "I don't know who those people are. The rest is…he promised to write me a story. He would tell them to Naruto and I wanted to hear one that Naruto didn't know. I didn't think he'd ever get around to it. I didn't know if he cared…"

Her tears fell onto the handwritten pages.

It was Danzo who spoke, "You may leave. If you find anything that seems important, report to the Hokage immediately."

When the girl and her father had left, Sarutobi sighed and spoke, "Well, that was disappointing. I suppose we should summon Jiraiya."

Danzo grunted. "Yes, but before that…" The retired ninja used his position behind the Hokage to impale his hand into the back of Hiruzen Sarutobi. A stream of snakes seemed to flow over Danzo's arm into the wound into the Hokage's spine. "We have some unfinished business, Sensei."

"Orochimaru…" Sarutobi sputtered.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!" Tsunade shouted at the only person standing in the ruins of the city street. "YOU! YOU COST ME A LOT OF MONEY! I WOULD HAVE WON IF IT WEREN'T FOR WHATEVER THIS IS!"

Haru vainly hoped that the killing intent was just a genjutsu because no human being should be able to be so fearsome. Haru returned the sakabato, a non-lethal reverse-blade sword, to his seal storage and hefted his teacher over his shoulder. "It was this guy. He did it."

That just seemed to make the blonde woman angrier.


	85. Chapter 85

Tsunade Senju glared at the cheeky, red-haired prepubescent standing on top of a building's worth of rubble and holding the body of a well-known Leaf ninja. It was clear that the person in the black coat was up to no good. She turned her head to her protégé, "Shizune, grab the Copy-Nin. I'll deal with the kid."

Before Haru could stutter out "Wait! I'm not an enemy!" he was interrupted by the ground beneath him exploding from the force of Tsunade's punch. "No, this is all wrong!" he screamed as he flew through the air. The boy landed in a graceful crouch but his frantic explanation was anything but graceful, "I was going to heal him! I know I kinda…did…the stuff to him…"

Fire raged in Tsunade's eyes, glistening darkly and reflecting the remaining city fires that surrounded the new crater. "You cost me five thousand ryo. If it weren't for you, those dice would have landed on odds. I've decided to extract five thousand ryo worth of body parts from your corpse."

Haru wanted to cry. He knew that, on average, his body would only fetch about three thousand total on the black market.

Circling around the boy, Tsunade's assistant had a trio of poisoned senbon in each hand, held between the knuckles of her fingers. Before she could fling her weapons, however, Haru tossed the limp body Kakashi Hatake into her arms. A ninja less skilled than Shizune would have probably skewered the man ironically, but as it was, the medic apprentice dropped her senbon and retreated a safe distance from the ensuing battle with Kakashi's body intact.

As the jinchuriki of the three-tails, Haru should still have had plenty of chakra after his fight with Kakashih. He shouldn't have a shooting pain across his chest or a wet cough welling up in his lungs. He definitely shouldn't have had a darkening of vision that typically accompanied chakra exhaustion.

"Tsunade of the Sannin, I'm here on orders to…"

"Shut it, little girl," Tsunade grunted as she flung an entire brick wall as easily as a wall-sized shuriken. "I'll get the story from Hatake-chan later," she said smugly as the short teen was smothered in wall. "Shizune! How's the patient doing?" she barked, shifting her attention to the girl with the glowing hands.

Shizune's eyes widened as she looked past her mentor. "Tsunade-sama…" she whispered, pointing at what should have been a smear on the ground. A stream of glowing green acid flowed out of the mouth of the creature wearing the ragged remains of a black coat. Demonic chakra flowed over the creature, rippling towards the end of its hair which wagged menacingly like a prehensile tail.

" **I want to play too,** " it spoke. It started with slow, intentional steps and shortly broke into a jog. Its grin was larger than its face.

The sannin uprooted a mostly intact tree trunk and wielded it like a baseball bat. "Come get some then."

" _Isobu…no..."_

Tsunade sensed a moment of hesitation within the monster and smashed it a kilometer out of the city along with half of her makeshift bat. She dropped her improvised weapon with a seismic thud and chased after it, hopping from roof to roof. A bloody thumb and a few hand seals allowed her to call her enormous slug summon, Katsuyu. An enemy jinchuriki was not to be taken lightly.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake awoke with a gasp. Disoriented, he instinctively reached for his weapon pouch only to find he had been disarmed but not restrained.

"Were you looking for this?" Shizune asked the man who suddenly noticed her presence. She tossed the jounin his armaments and explained, "Sorry, standard procedure. One can't be too careful when treating jumpy shinobi who tend to throw shuriken first and ask questions later."

Kakashi asked, "Where is he?" The masked ninja sat up and studied the abandoned tea shop in which he had awakened. It was mostly intact despite a few shards of broken porcelain littering the ground. Trying to slide off the table he had been lain upon, he coughed severely and clutched his chest.

"Are you talking about your opponent? I believe Tsunade-sama is currently dispatching of him." Thunderous rumbles in the distance punctuated her response. "I wouldn't suggest following them. After all, your heart was stopped for several minutes. It's a wonder that there wasn't any permanent damage."

"I don't care," Kakashi said as he affixed his weapon pouch to his leg and replaced the various weaponry he kept hidden on his body. "I have to go out there."

Shizune stepped into Kakashi's path and stood under the doorway with her arms crossed. "What if I were to stop you? You are my patient, after all. Tsunade-sama would be disappointed in me if I let you get hurt."

The absent godfather sighed and rubbed his forehead. "A lot of the time, when I ignore my problems long enough, they go away eventually. I was hoping that this would be one of those times." Kakashi shambled weakly toward the door. "I was hoping for a long, long time that I wasn't making a grave mistake. But it turned out that I was wrong." He stopped in front of her and leaned forward, bracing himself against the door frame with his arm extended over Shizune's shoulder. He whispered into the shorter woman's ear, "It just got bigger and bigger and I thought by coming here I could finally finish things and find closure but we just ended up making a huge mess all over the city. Now I'm sore, exhausted, and can barely walk straight.

Kakashi stood up straight with his hands on his hips and a cheeky smile through his mask. "Now, are you going to let me through, Shizune-chan, or do I have to keep making innuendos?"

The madly blushing woman fell to her knees and covered her face. "Whatever. Just stop. I don't care if you kill yourself. Just never talk to me again."

The white haired man commented sardonically to himself, "Life would have been so very much easier if Seishirou and Nodoka had just made Jiraiya also be Haru's godfather."

* * *

There was a moment of clear introspection in Tsunade Senju's mind. "Oh, kami, how did it come down to this? Why am I fighting a biiju? Why is it after me? Shouldn't it be terrorizing a hidden village somewhere instead of leveling a podunk shithole? I didn't even piss anyone off…today…yet…" The thought trailed off as she smashed her foot into the humanoid monster's face, sending it crashing into a thicket of trees like a 140 pound bowling ball.

Katsuyu dropped her entire weight upon the stunned creature like a cruiseliner falling from the sky. Tsunade continued to optimistically imagine the hoard of ryo she would have won if only she hadn't been rudely interrupted early by the brat. The slug summon was enveloping a struggling Haru into an acid filled vestibule in which he would futilely burn out the demonic chakra reserves. The brat had fought like a wild beast, neglecting any ninjutsu or battle strategy. It was frankly a very disappointingly one-sided fight. How the hell did this punk beat the Hatake heir?

Speaking of the devil, a haggard Kakashi arrived along with Shizune in tow.

"What is he doing here?" the sage asked irately. "I need him healthy enough to extract about two thousand ryo from his corpse."

"Actually, Senju-dono, that's my student you're fighting," Kakashi admitted sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

"EH?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Explain now, whelp."

"He's on a mission from the Sandaime. So I'm asking you, could you please let him go?" Kakashi clapped his hands and glanced up at the woman's eyes from a shallow bow.

"I wasn't aware that Konoha had two jinchuriki," Shizune remarked.

"Haru is just full of surprises. I'm sure you may or may not like him if you get to know him better," he replied. "By the way, does anyone hear…music?"

There was a thumping, pounding rhythm that all of them could feel down to their bones like festival drums. All three shinobi searched for the source of the beat, but it came equally from all directions as if it was being produced inside the ear itself. A drum roll introduced a frantic bass riff and then a guitar crying out as if summoning a demon from hell.

At that moment, Katsuya exploded into hundreds of slug chunks and Haru emerged, wreathed in dark, flaming chakra and with a solid black orb of chakra floating above his hand.


	86. Chapter 86

Haru dismissed his black, tainted rasengan. Surrounded by the writhing pieces of Kaguya and still shrouded in dark, demonic chakra, Haru adjusted the tattered remains of his coat, tugging them straight before pointing at Tsunade Senju and shouting, "By order of the Third Hokage of Konoha, Senju Tsunade is hereby decreed to become the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!"

"See what I mean? Always surprising," offered Kakashi to the slackjawed Senju woman.

After a moment to regain her wits, Tsunade scoffed at the idea. "What? Why me? Why should I have to take a thankless job like that?"

The energy coating Haru's body began to shrink and dissipate rapidly. He fell to a knee but kept his mismatched eyes locked onto Tsunade's eyes. "Because Sarutobi is probably already dead and you can't let Orochimaru or Danzo steal the village for themselves. You can't… Please…"

Exhausted, Haru keeled over and lost consciousness. The music genjutsu faded away.

Tsunade sighed before barking at Shizune, "Bring him to me."

* * *

"What the hell have you been doing to this kid? His chakra core is dangerously unstable. It's a wonder he's alive, much less tossing around S-rank ninjutsu," Tsunade berated as she examined the young teen with her glowing palms. The group had relocated to Tsunade's lodgings for the sake of privacy, realizing that several blocks of the city had been razed to the ground and Team Seven wasn't in any shape to run from the authorities.

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced at the boy on the bed. "It's not my fault. He did it to himself. He started experimenting with chakra years before anyone thought he'd be anything more than another orphan." With a long face, he added, "By the time we got him a tutor, the damage had been done. And since then, I recently discovered he's had a constant genjutsu on himself 24/7 and he's been wearing weighted seals for years."

Tsunade commented, "That explains why he's so short, I suppose." Stunted skeletal growth was the main reason why worn training weights weren't used until adolescent ninja were at least genin rank. Even then, constant exertion of chakra had to be balanced by periods of rest in order to not overstress the tenketsu.

The negligent godfather guiltily considered that the hands-off approach perhaps wasn't among his best decisions regarding Haru. "Is he going to be okay?"

The legendary medic responded, "Ordinarily it'd be fine. But considering that he went ahead and crammed a bijuu in the mix, I'd say he's probably going to die."

"Probably?"

"I say 'probably' because I don't know how he managed to seal a demon into himself and survive in the first place. You tell me whether you can make heads or tails of this nonsense seal," Tsunade said as she pointed to the markings on the boy's stomach. Instead of the eight trigrams inked in Japanese characters that Naruto sported, Haru's seal was instead written in English. "I can't even see the sublayers of the seal because it's been burned into the scar tissue on his torso. This method of sealing is actually rather interesting. Using one's own living tissue for the seal would make it extremely resistant to foreign chakra…"

While Tsunade mused over the benefits and drawbacks of charring a seal onto one's body, Kakashi peered at the boy's stomach while rubbing his chin. "I've seen this writing before. It's his personal code language." Disquiet filled Kakashi's mind as he began to wonder whether this was the reason why Haru had befriended Naruto as a child, so as to steal the Uzumakis' sealing techniques.

"Excuse me, Hatake-san, would you mind explaining your role in all of this?" asked Shizune. "If you're his squad leader, why didn't you just deliver the message yourself?"

Kakashi tapped his chin and looked upward. "Ah, well, I just happened to be in town and was thinking I would stop by the pet store when I saw the kiddo and said 'Hi.' but it turned into an argument about whether cats or dogs were better. Being older, I decided to let my student get the last word in," he explained with a shrug.

The red-headed examinee grinned and spoke, " **You mean we kicked your butt."**  The trio of older ninja simultaneously turned their heads to the source of the voice, which sound gravelly and awkward, as if the speaker hadn't much practice speaking aloud in a long time.

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "What do you mean by 'we'?"

A single brown eye cracked open to meet Kakashi's gaze. " **Oh, yeah. We haven't met yet.** **Name's Isobu. Nice to meet ya. I'm Haru-chan's partner."**


	87. Chapter 87

Haru stood on the side of a skyscraper under a blue sky. Innumerable similar buildings filled the landscape as far as he could see. He lifted one foot, testing the unusual gravity of the world he currently occupied. The ground was straight ahead of him like a wall of dark green.

He fell to his knees. "Nooooo. Anything but Bleach. Please God, no." Certainly, he was in hell.

"You're not dead yet, Haru," a grizzled old man spoke from behind Haru.

The boy sent a pair of senbon whizzing through the air at the source of voice. They sailed past either side of the man's head.

Haru snarled, "Zangetsu! What am I doing here? I swear to God if you tell me I'm a shinigami..."

The man grinned. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else," he spoke as he tossed away the lightly tinted sunglasses he was wearing. Even though he was wearing the appropriate tattered outfit, the speaker was definitely not the character from Bleach.

"No…you're…"

With a wink, the man spoke, "Wrack your brain until it hurts and then continue to think until it melts and then keep remembering until you find the answer."

The world suddenly righted, sending Haru falling toward the ground. Despite trying to use chakra in his feet, he continued to fall. He stared at the shrinking figure as it became more distant and the periphery of his vision dimmed. The world went completely black before Haru could figure out why the man looked so familiar.

* * *

"I'm seriously starting to hate waking up like this," Haru said, rubbing his green left eye. He was in a hotel room, probably Tsunade's if the clothes strewn about one side of the floor was any indication. The boy pulled out an eyepatch and tied it around his head as the three adults in the room watched wordlessly. The redhead sighed and asked, "Alright. What did I miss?"

Shizune leaned forward. "Are we speaking with Haru now?"

Tsunade grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook vigorously, ignoring that she had just treated his wounds an hour ago. "What the fuck were you thinking? Are you literally crazy? No, don't tell me. Of course you are, turning yourself into a jinchuriki. And you're especially crazy if you expect me to come back to Konoha with you." The woman dropped the boy onto the bed and began to blush furiously. "It doesn't matter how smart or pretty or strong you think I am. I'm not a hero. And I'm definitely NOT going to date you."

Isobu giggled in the back of Haru's mind.

"Please calm down, Senju-dono. Just tell me what Isobu told you guys." Haru broke into a cold sweat as he imagined all the things that could have been revealed while he was unconscious.

Kakashi chuckled from his corner of the room. "I had my suspicions but…"

Haru tried to calm his breathing, "Please, Kakashi-sensei, can you just explain…"

The white-haired man walked up to the boy, pet him on the head, and grinned behind his mask. "It's okay, Haru. Every man has his preferences. If you happen to prefer blonde, older women, no one here is going to judge you, except maybe Tsunade-hime," he said with a wink.

The boy sunk his face into his hands and felt like he wanted to sob hysterically.

"I think it's kind of cute," Shizune added in an attempt to be helpful. Instead of cheering him up, Haru keeled over into a fetal position out of embarrassment.

Tsunade crossed her arms over her massive chest and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Anyways, why does it have to be me? Why can't you get Jiraiya to become Hokage? Or what about this guy here? Isn't Hatake strong enough?"

Still in fetal position, Haru spoke plainly without any trace of distress. "Between Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo, they'll have accounted for Jiraiya's presence and planned for all foreseeable contingencies. You, Senju Tsunade, are needed because you are outside of their sphere of influence and powerful enough to make a difference."

"But…"

Haru sat up and continued speaking, "We can't trust anyone else. The reason why the Sandaime sent me alone was because Danzo has probably already infiltrated the village and begun weakening or subverting it. I don't know exactly what they're up to, but odds are that the Sandaime will be dead in the next twenty-four hours, if he isn't already."

"That's absurd. How could…"

"I am betting my life on it. And so is Sarutobi. He's counting on you to come back and save the village from Orochimaru."

"That's a fool's bet. Why should I care what happens to that village anyways?"

Haru looked down at this hands, unable to maintain eye contact. "I'm not really the best person to answer that question. I have a friend who could probably convince you easily but…" He pointed to the necklace hanging from Tsunade's neck. "I think you already care, that you still care, otherwise you wouldn't still be wearing that."

The woman held the crystal heirloom in her fist. "What would you know about it?" she yelled defensively.

Haru let out a deep sigh. "I guess not as much as I thought I did. But if you can't do it for Dan or Nawaki, at least come back for Jiraiya. ...He needs you more than you think."

The old woman continued to think silently with her hand wrapped around Hashirama's trinket.

The boy sitting on the bed looked at Kakashi and asked, "So what now? I've completed my mission. Are you going to take me back to the village?"

Kakashi raised his palms up and shrugged. "Why would I do that? I'm on vacation. I just wanted to visit my dear pupil."

Haru rolled his eyes, "Does that mean we can have a real fight sometime? One where you don't hold back or anything?"

Shizune answered in Kakashi's stead, "Unfortunately, no. In order to stabilize your chakra, we had to put dampeners on your tenketsu. You won't be able to fight or use jutsu for a couple weeks. You need to rest until then in order to give your chakra core a break."

"What?" Haru's eye began to twitch angrily. "Why? I was fine!"

Tsunade spoke authoritatively, "No, you weren't. Between years of constant use and the recent trauma of sealing a biiju, you were actually on the brink of dying. You're incredibly lucky we treated you when we did."

"But the village! I have to stop Orochimaru. Otherwise…" Haru's teeth grinded in his jaw.

The medic princess put her hand on Haru's back. "As my patient, you are forbidden from doing anything for the time being." She gave a weak smile, "Leave it to the grown-ups for now, okay, Haru-chan?"

Suddenly very drowsy, the adolescent's eyes drifted shut and yet again his consciousness was extinguished.


	88. Chapter 88

Haru woke to the smell of Chinese style takeout. Kakashi had made a food run during the boy's involuntary nap. The older man worked his chopsticks through a box of sesame chicken.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi eventually asked, breaking the silence.

"I feel terrible."

Having his tenketsu sealed was unpleasantly different from when he intentionally suppressed his chakra. Ninja don't ordinarily get sick except under life threatening circumstances. Haru's entire body ached as if he had an "old world" flu. Chakra exertion had masked this pain with adrenaline and endorphins but now the symptoms of his abusive training regimen were obvious and inescapable.

Now, however, was a terrible time to be convalescing under a jounin's watchful eye.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you trust me?"

"No. Have some fried rice."

Haru wondered how Kakashi was eating while wearing a mask over half his face. The food smelled good but Haru had bigger fish to fry.

"I need a human sacrifice," Haru informed his superior while still prone under the bedcovers.

"We have pork. I'm afraid they were out of human."

Haru groaned into his pillow. Apparently Tsunade and Shizune were gone, judging from the conspicuous lack of female garments on the floor. That just left his estranged godfather as his only hope.

"No, I mean, I need to kill someone."

"I wasn't aware that bloodlust was a side effect of tenketsu sealing," the silver-haired man responded without missing a beat.

Haru exhaled deeply, a pained and exhausted sigh. "I need to bring a mutual acquaintance back to life with a kinjutsu that requires a living human sacrifice in order to save the village from Orochimaru."

It was Kakashi's turn to sigh. "First of all, no. Second, you're in no condition to be performing any jutsu, kinjutsu or otherwise. Third, who were you even going to use as a sacrifice? Fourth, leave it to the Hokage and the Sannin. Last of all,  **no**."

Haru stared at his tattered, destroyed coat lying on a chair next to the bed. "Fine. Pass me the fried noodles then."

"Too late. They're all gone."

_Someone please shoot me now._

* * *

"Do you have anything in your kitchen that isn't instant or ramen?" Karin Uzumaki asked her newly discovered relative.

"I dunno. Haru always cooked for me. And what's wrong with ramen anyways?" the blond adolescent replied.

Karin gave up the argument before it started and resigned herself to buying groceries later. Despite unofficially being Konoha's captive, the village was doing it's best to make her comfortable, including giving her a decent stipend during her 'vacation'. Despite the mysterious circumstances, it was still a step up from her experiences in Kusagakure.

The boy she was staying with wasn't terrible company either. His chakra was warm and sunny and pleasant to be around. It was a severe contrast to his 'friend' with the terrifying, suffocating chakra who had killed her teammates and insisted on her extended stay in Konohagakure. It was frightening enough to encounter someone who could hide himself from her sensing abilities. That was a first. What she felt later was even worse. His chakra was like black soot that coated her lungs and desperately made her want to take a bath. Naruto insisted that Haru wouldn't hurt a fly but Karin wanted nothing to do with the non-Uzumaki redhead.

Putting that thought out of her mind, she picked out the nicest, most expensive ramen of the bunch and resolved to make the most of her vacation. In fact, a bath sounded like an excellent idea. If she recalled correctly, Konoha had some excellent hot springs...

* * *

Ino Yamanaka only flipped through the hand-written book in front of her. At first glance, it seemed an ordinary notebook. The tale within was an innocuous account of a wandering samurai who, after taking countless lives during a bloody revolution, had vowed never to kill again. Most ninja would scoff at the impractical reverse-bladed katana but Ino thought it was appropriate, albeit quaint, symbol of idealistic peace. It was more interesting than her fashion magazines which had lately lacked anything particularly useful or pertinent.

She was reading at the shop counter half out of boredom and half wistful thinking about a certain red-haired, one-eyed jerk she hadn't seen in awhile. The ordinary looking composition book had passed through the hand of countless experienced ninja but had yet to reveal anything out of the ordinary. Thus, Ino was allowed to keep the parting gift (with a bit of help from her father).

Business at the flower shop had stagnated since the announcement of the merger of Sound and Leaf. People were less concerned about roses than about the traitorous Sannin-turned-diplomat whose only legitimacy came from the disgraced Shimura Danzo who had managed to keep hold of the Hokage's ear. A small army of Sound shinobi had immigrated into the village. They were well-behaved and convincingly human. The major clans were the most skeptical, especially the Uchiha and Hyuga.

Even though nothing had happened, people were feeling restless in their bones.

As she perused the short novel, Ino noted a discrepancy in one of the character descriptions. She was sure the beautiful female love interest liked cosmoses, not bougainvilleas. She flipped through the pages, looking for mention of the flower. Sure enough, in the first chapter, the lady kendo instructor had been introduced with bouquet of cosmos blooms.

Underneath that line, there was a message from Haru that definitely wasn't there the first time she read that page.

" _Ino, please keep this a secret from your father in case he is in the room. If you press a flower into these pages, they will show a message I need you to pass into Shikamaru and Choji. Between the three of you, I know you can prevent a bad ending. Don't trust any jounin. I hope you liked the story. It's one of my favorites."_

Ino squashed a tulip into the middle of the notebook. It hadn't made any sense how Haru could possibly have snuck a secret message past Konoha's elite ninja. But somehow he'd done it. When she pried the pages apart, the flower had been replaced with a folded note that described where to find...a crystal ball?

* * *

Haku sat seiza style in one of the elegant sitting rooms of the Hyuga compound, gazing at the birds beyond the Japanese style veranda.

Neither Haru nor Hiashi had taken the engagement to Hinata seriously. Rather, Haku had been informally accepted into the household as Hinata's retainer. They had shown him kindness, (probably due to Hinata-san's gentle insistence,) although many people still refused to believe he was male. He gave up mentioning it unless the topic became relevant. With Haru's flight from the village, however, the teen's future was in flux.

Maybe it would easier simply to leave by himself. Everyone else in his life had left him one way or another. Family. Zabuza. Haru. Why was he even still in Konoha anyways?

Oh, right, Haru has asked him to stay. To stay with Hinata. To stay and protect someone that Haru cared about. Haru, who left on his own to do what only the kami knew.

Haku wished to be a bird. Free. Even the blackest crow could find a flock to fly with, Haku thought as he watched said bird alight and disappear beyond the treetops.

Haku wished he wasn't such a coward.


	89. Chapter 89

"I guess I do like her. I mean, there's nothing to dislike about her. It's just that I feel too old. I watched her grow up. I grew up  **with**  her. She's like a younger sister and I can't...maybe if we were ten years older but not…"

"What happens to her, Haru?

"I don't know for sure. I don't think she ends up dying or anything. She becomes a strong ninja, like her father. But her jounin instructor, Asuma, he gets killed fighting Akatsuki."

Kakashi sat back in his chair and closed his eye. Having several broken ribs reset and healed meant that he was stuck watching Haru for at least a few days before bringing him back to Konoha. "Doctor's orders" meant a lot coming from a Sannin.

"Can you tell me what happens to me?" he asked.

"You're the only one who can defeat Obito. His Sharingan has the power of Kamui, which lets him phase himself and other objects into his personal pocket dimension. That eye you received is the only way to counter the technique and actually hurt him. I don't remember how you beat him though. I think he ends up fighting with you and everyone else against Madara."

The jounin paused his inquiries into the future for several minutes. Haru had warned that his memories and predictions weren't perfect and that future was subject to change depending on their actions in the present. But Haru's disturbingly casual tendency to mention people and events that were impossible for him to know gave credence to his prognostications. Life changing secrets and gruesome fates were just a matter of fact for the boy. It was unnerving.

"Haru, what is it like to know everyone's future but your own?"

"I don't know everyone's future. Just...the people around Konoha and Naruto. Did you know that if I didn't exist, he would have been on your genin team with Sasuke and Sakura?"

"How could I possibly have known that?"

"Oh, right. Anyways," Haru took a deep breath, "It's like I'm on the outside, looking into a world that would exist just fine without me. Only before I knew it, I fucked it up. That's why I tried so hard to make things better. That's why I tried to make Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura stronger. I didn't want to be responsible for things anymore.

"I'm selfish. I want to find out what I am, why I'm here. But I also think I'd feel less restless if everything were to work out for you guys. It's not because of the will of fire or anything like that. I'd just be annoyed if you guys failed despite all the effort I put into changing the future."

Kakashi's gaze was heavy and unwavering. "It's not selfish to care about your friends."

"But what I want isn't what they want. I have some kind of stupid destiny I have to fulfill and I can't be the person they expect me to be. I can't be in their lives..."

"You'd be surprised by your friends if you just let them be your friends. We want to be here for you. And trust me, no matter what destiny or fate has in store for you, you belong here with the people who care about you."

"Those are bold words coming from a friend-killer like you, Bakashi," spoke a third person in the room with Haru and Kakashi. He wore a black coat with red clouds and an orange mask with a swirling design centered on a single eye.

Kakashi immediately sprang between Haru and the mysterious intruder. "Who are you?" he asked, brandishing a kunai defensively and uncovering his Sharingan.

"Don't you recognize me? I guess you can't be expected to remember every single person you get killed." The man removed the mask, revealing a half-deformed, pale Uchiha face.

"Obito?" Kakashi's guard lowered from shock. He was pummelled by a spiral of white, wood-like projections. The material split into countless threads, pinning the man to the wall through his clothes and limbs.

The presumed-dead Uchiha grinned. "I don't see any point in hiding my identity, seeing as Mister Tattletale would probably spill the beans anyways."

Still in bed, Haru spoke, "Madara is using you. The Eye of the Moon Plan is obscenely stupid. Besides, that kind of world is more of a personalized nightmare than an ideal world."

Obito was unperturbed. "See what I mean? But joke's on you. Madara Uchiha is dead. And don't worry, we have something better planned."

Seeing the crazed smile on Obito's face, Haru barely managed to swallow because of the deep fear that comes from being helpless while facing the unknown. His heartbeat pulsed across his entire body.

"Kakashi didn't kill Rin…" Haru began to say.

Only pausing a moment, Obito concluded, "Lies. I saw it happen."

"Rin..." was all Haru managed to say before being grabbed by the throat by a cold, menacing Obito.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk later. And don't worry about Bakashi. He hasn't even begun to suffer enough for what he's done." Those were the last words Kakashi heard before he was left alone, bleeding on the wall of the hotel room.


	90. Chapter 90

Isobu, sans Haru, tumbled onto the floor, disoriented by the sudden departure of his human companion from their body. He began an animalistic growl but was cut off by a sadistic kick to the gut that showed his captor had zero concern for Isobu's well-being or continued existence.

"Shut up. Not even your bijuu can save you now," Obito snapped. The cave that surrounded the two of them was lit only by the occasional torch. The floor was moist, mossy soil and the walls were strewn with veiny tree roots.

" **What have you done with the boy?"**  Isobu asked.

"What are you talking about, Haru?" The Uchiha sneered at the teenager in front of him.

" **Indeed. I can no longer sense Haru-chan within this body. What have you done to him?"** With a single eye clenched shut, Isobu did his best to demand an answer while sealed into a pathetic human body.

Obito curled his fingers upward and pale roots drew from the ground and immobilized Isobu's body, covering him to the neck. A collar of wooden speartips encircling said neck made it clear that Obito's patience was depleted and that a flippant answer would be unacceptable.

"Explain. If Haru isn't with you, then where would he be?"

* * *

Ino, Hinata, and Choji were huddled behind Shikamaru as he manipulated the Hokage's crystal ball. It was just before dusk. The treasure hunt had been simple, although it had taken them through a secret tunnel that led outside the village. The notebook Haru had left Ino was programmed with a seal to display its message when in the presence of copious amounts of flower pollen and then touched, a nod to Ino's reading habits during slow work days. A scroll explaining how to spy on Orochimaru accompanied the viewing glass, hidden a short distance outside the walls of the village.

The snake Sannin had planted himself within the Hokage's office, a permanent guest who sat through all the Hokage's ordinary business. It wasn't until they turned the ball's attention to Danzo Shimura that they found incriminating evidence.

Hinata gasped, "That's where we found Haru all those years ago. I thought they tore down those tunnels…" She remembered how suspicious it was that there were stretches of 'blank' space deep under Konohagakure. A lesser Byakugan wouldn't have seen enough of the picture to notice, by the absence of chakra, a void maze of tunnels lined with seals that masked chakra signatures. Since then, Hinata had always wondered whether Haru's cryptic question about the depth her Byakugan was a clue on how to save him from Danzo or merely a coincidence.

"Yo, Shikamaru, why are all those people grouped up down there?" Choji asked.

A mix of pale, adolescent Konoha ninja, Oto ninja, and deformed, monstrous humanoids were gathered before Danzo, who looked far more sickly than any of them remembered him being.

Shikamaru pointed out a couple of the monsters within the orb. "Look at these two."

"No…" Ino paled. "That's...Sakura and Sasuke." The combination of pink hair and a single sharingan was unmistakable. Why was she there? What was going on? Haru had obviously known something because he specifically pointed out that his teammates couldn't be trusted, to not fight them unless absolutely necessary. They could only trust genin that they personally knew. Anyone chunin or above might be compromised.

The four of them listened grimly as Danzo announced, "Tonight, the Hokage ends. And Konoha's future begins."

The leaves behind them rustled loudly immediately after that declaration. Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan. Ino peeled a pair of kunai from her thighs. Choji dropped his bag of chips.

As the sun began to set beyond Konoha to the west, Inuzuka Kiba, with Akamaru on his head, shouted, "Hey, guys. What are all of you doing out here? I know we don't hang out much anymore but you could at least bother to invite me."


	91. Chapter 91

Still in Haru's body, Isobu was laid out upon a metal examination table. Dozens of tendrils of white zetsu roots flowed into his chest cavity, keeping the human body alive during Obito's examination. And out of the entranced biiju, like a morbid white zetsu fountain, petal-like structures grew out of the cavity in the complex physical representation of Haru's seal.

Obito peered out of the single hole in his orange spiral mask at the combination of English and Japanese words as if trying to read alphabet soup. He screamed in frustration and smashed the delicate construction of white text emerging from his captive.

It wasn't as if he couldn't understand the English with his Sharingan eye. The problem was that the modified seal had been designed to allow the Sanbi much greater freedom than the standard eight trigrams seal. And without the original occupant, the biiju had slipped into the the driver's seat and thus become resistant to the biiju extraction jutsu. It would take a day or two to modify the jutsu.

The question of where the boy went remained in Obito's mind. The Kamui had never reacted with anyone else like that. The Uchiha's train of thought was interrupted by a massive tremor that shook the Akatsuki base, knocking beakers and surgical tools off shelves.

"Hooaahh," Obito groaned in exasperation. Kisame was on base but the timing convinced Obito to investigate the matter personally. After a quick jaunt through the Kamui, he beheld a massive crater in the forest above the fire country base. The ground had been obliterated a hundred meters across, leaving only upturned earth and twisted, charred trees. The dust had yet to settle and the remains of small fires were dying around him. "A meteorite?" Obito muttered to himself.

In the center of the devastation was a person shaped hole. "Owwwww. That was worse than Akane's mallet," a teenager spoke, displaying minor inconvenience. The voice's owner emerged, revealing a young man dressed in a red chinese silk shirt and black silk pants. He straightened his eyepatch and dusted himself off.

The sixteen year old male looked up at the masked Uchiha. His eye widened, not expecting to find the leader of Akatsuki so quickly. "Oh, hi, Obito. Long time no see?"

"Haru?" Obito posited, visibly tilting his head upward to see where the redheaded boy had come from. He immediately flickered behind Haru, aiming to threaten the boy into complacency with a kunai to the throat. Just as quickly, Haru reacted with a low leg sweep into a spinning roundhouse kick.

The unconventionally dressed ninja was not surprised when his follow up attack failed to properly connect with the Uchiha. He narrowed his eye and muttered, "Damn Kamui." However, it had given him some space and Obito seemed wary of the unfamiliar Haru.

" _I just have to touch him once…"_  Haru reminded himself internally. For him, it had been over two years since his consciousness had been sent back to his original world. After being transported to the world of Ranma 1/2, he had trained and planned for this fight. He had been expecting a bit more time in this dimension before actually confronting Obito, however.

Haru broke the silence, "So if you aren't pursuing the Infinite Tsukuyomi, what are you actually trying to do?"

Obito removed his mask and glared at the teen with his Sharingan. "I'm trying to remake the world into a better place. Not just with an illusion, but by changing reality itself."

"That sounds like...the Tenseigan?"

Obito cast a genjutsu through his Sharingan, expecting to defeat his opponent instantly. Instead of reaching Haru's consciousness, the ocular genjutsu obliterated several layers of mental ablative defenses.

Although Haru remained standing, it was evidently not a pleasant experience for the boy. "I know you haven't been a Konoha-nin for years but you should at least know better than to try genjutsu against one of the pioneers of anti-genjutsu defenses," Haru spoke proudly.

"I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way," Obito said as he clapped his hands together, summoning trunks of white wood at Haru. In response, the boy spun flaming chakra in both of his hands, creating balls of flame tinged with black. The unnaturally colored rasen-fireballs obliterated the Mokuton attack.

"Is there anyway I could persuade you to just come back to Konoha and make up with Kakashi and live happily ever after?" Haru asked as he scanned the area for where Obito had flickered to.

Obito whispered into Haru's ear from behind, "I'm going to have to decline your generous offer." He stabbed the surprised boy in the back with a short tanto blade. The blow wasn't meant to kill but merely incapacitate. He needed Hamura's descendant alive to achieve his goals.

Haru coughed out a mouthful of blood, reaching behind himself to grab Obito's arm. "But I insist," he said mirthfully, still drooling blood.

Unbeknownst to Obito, the seal on Haru's stomach began to glow through his stained silk shirt. Obito attempted to flee through Kamui but, even while intangible, he watched in horror as his body began to disintegrate quickly from where Haru had grabbed his arm. The tanto fell out of Haru's back and the redhead fell to one knee.

"What is this?" Obito yelled. His head and shoulder was all that was left of him and that was rapidly disappearing too.

Haru coughed again. He had already set his chakra to heal the wound similar to how Kabuto would regenerate himself on the fly. "You're lucky. A vacancy recently opened up in Hotel Haru. I hope you enjoy your stay."

The modified Eight Trigrams seal on Haru's torso stopped glowing as Obito faded completely.

The boy adjusted his eyepatch and wished he could congratulate himself but it would have to wait. Kisame Hoshigaki was standing in front of him, sword at the ready.


End file.
